Penza, 15 December 2014. PenzaNews. The Russian-Polish youth forum opened in the “Chistye Prudy” hotel complex on Sunday, December 14.

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In his welcoming speech, the chairman of the National Youth and Children’s Unions Council of Russia Grigory Petushkov pointed out that the forum was made possible thanks to the support of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, the Federal Youth Agency and the Penza State University.

“But it is very important to understand today that these event is taking place thanks to the initiative from youth organizations – in particular, two ‘umbrella structures,’ the Polish Council of Youth Organizations and the National Youth Council of Russia,” he stressed.

In his turn, Sergei Pulikovsky, the deputy chairman of the Penza region government, expressed his hope the Russian-Polish forum will become a new reason to further develop bilateral relationship.

“I spent all my childhood in the Kaliningrad region. We were very close to the Polish pioneer camps and had a lot of various campaigns with them. The result was our contact and friendship, the pioneer bonfires. And, of course, I will never forget how we exchanged our pioneer neck scarves, red from Russia and red and white from Poland,” he noted.

Stressing the importance of the forum hosted in Penza, Victor Mescheryakov, the vice-principal of the Penza State University, mentioned that Russian and Polish youth have similar problems.

“I think that problems that students both in Russia and Poland have are largely the same: education quality, extracurricular recreation activities, finding job after graduating, social security of the students. We all have a great opportunity to discuss these issues here, in Penza, and potentially develop recommendations to solve them,” he said.

In his address to the audience, Mateusz Czerniga, the board member of the Polish Council of Youth Organizations, thanked the organizers for a unique opportunity for the youth of both countries to join forces for bringing their nations together.

“This meeting gives the opportunity to cooperate – not only to cooperate as the representatives of our nations, as Russians, Polish people, but to cooperate especially as youth. We are all the members of the new generation, which has a power to change the world and make it a better place for living through cooperation,” he stressed.

The first day of the forum was dedicated to helping the participants get acquainted with each other, voice their expectations from the event, and list the schedule.

The plenary meeting on Russian-Polish relationships resulted in several suggestions on improving them.

Afterwards, the audience took part in a workshop on conducting international talks, during which they learned about the basics and the tricks used in diplomatic processes.

The first day concluded with a festive dinner.

As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, the Russian-Polish youth forum is organized by the National youth council of Russia and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Penza State University.

The event aims to encourage international youth cooperation, develop intercultural contacts, create of a unified infospace, and boost youth contacts of both countries.

Monday, December 15, will feature two-hour debates on the topic “The role of culture in developing international diplomacy.” Afterwards, the forum will divide into four sections: “Youth organization cooperation,” “Information cooperation,” “Youth participation in decision-making,” and “Economy development and job-finding for the youth.”

Following that, the audience will be split into several groups for developing four separate projects.

The evening of Monday will also include an extensive set of cultural events: in particular, the guests will visit the regional Philarmonic Hall.

The projects developed by working groups will be presented on Tuesday, December 16. The closing ceremony will take place at 11.00 of the same day.