Young Russian politicians exchange dialogue with EU counterparts

(Photo credit: www.molpalata.ru)

In early December, just days before the second EU-Russia Summit of 2011, young Russian parliamentarians, civil activists and media members traveled to Brussels to participate in the “Russia-European Union: Youth for Modernization” roundtable hosted by the European Parliament. Organized by the Youth Public Chamber of Russia, young Russian members of the State Duma had the opportunity to meet and interact with their EU equivalents. 

Participants of the roundtable signed a resolution for cooperation which establishes a prominent platform for dialogue amongst young members of the Russian and European parliaments, public youth organizations, journalists and entrepreneurs from the EU and Russia. The resolution, the result of months of hard work in Moscow and Brussels, calls for the Russian Federation and the EU to enhance partnership in the areas of education, culture, journalism and public diplomacy.

Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Vice-President of the European Youth Forum, Katarina Nevedalova (Slovakia – S&D) endorsed the meeting in the halls of the European Parliament, adding that “these meetings open a new generation of cooperation.”

Similar to the first such roundtable that took place in Moscow in October 2011, visa issues were high on the agenda of the Brussels meeting. Over the past decade, there has been a rapid increase in EU-Russia contact in the tourism and professional fields. Youth, as the most active segment of the society, is the basis for the development of this travel and is why the participants of the roundtable support the implementation of a visa regime between the two blocs, especially for students and young professionals from both the EU and Russia. 

According to President of the European Youth Forum, Peter Matjasic, “Russians and Europeans should meet more often to understand what each thinks about the visa regime today... We also need to discuss the particularities of our countries and to find solutions for our common problems.” 

The participants are currently preparing for the next roundtable, which will take place in St. Petersburg. Apart from the meeting’s regular dialogue, the main focus of the “Russia-European Union: Youth for Modernization” roundtable will be to establish the platform as an effective instrument for solving the burning problems of EU-Russia bilateral relations. Such events contribute to enhancing dialogue between the parties in all areas of cooperation to the mutual benefit of all European citizens, regardless of their country. The hope is that this will allow young politicians and civil activists to make contributions in solving various problems important to both Western and Eastern Europe.

As MEP Petru Luhan (Romania- EPP) said during the first meeting in Moscow in October, youth is “the successor of all good and bad that is created today and therefore has no right to stand aside. The young generation is our future and it is extremely important for us today to create strong ties between our countries. We deserve a future on the principles of law, morality and honor, and we want to contribute to its creation.” 

The Youth Public Chamber is a non-governmental public organization uniting youth leaders between 18 and 35 and representing different segments of the Russian civil society.