On September 30 the Russian-Greek Youth Meeting "From our common history to our common future" was held online bringing together more than 50 participants – representatives of youth organizations, students and young professionals from Russia and Greece.
The event became a part of the program of the Year of Russian-Greece History held in 2021 under the patronage of the President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic. It was aimed at strengthening friendship and mutual understanding, building long-term partnerships between youth of Russia and Greece.
The program of the meeting consisted of two parts: a plenary session with the participation of officials from Russia and Greece and interactive discussion platforms for representatives of Russian and Greek youth.
Moderators of the Russian-Greek Youth Meeting were the Deputy Chairman of the National Youth Council of Russia Olga Vasilievna Popova and the President of the National Youth Council of Greece Armodios Drikos.
The plenary session was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Hellenic Republic Andrey Mikhailovich Maslov, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hellenic Republic to the Russian Federation Ekaterina Nassika, the Deputy Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valentina Yuryevna Shalashnikova, the Vice-President of the Foundation for Youth and Continuing Education of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs of the Hellenic Republic Gianis Delakouridis, the Head of the Russian House in Athens Alexander Mikhailovich Khomenko.
The second part of the Meeting was held in the format of parallel discussion platforms on the topics: "Russia-Greece. Connection of times, traditions, history and culture", "Youth entrepreneurship and startups", "Climate change and volunteering". During discussion platforms youth representatives and student associations, students and young professionals from Russia and Greece presented their ideas for implementing closer interaction and cooperation between states.
Participants were 55 people. They were representatives of youth public associations, leaders of youth projects, representatives of state authorities in the field of youth policy and youth work, young parliamentarians and members of youth parliaments, young compatriots living abroad, young entrepreneurs, students and other representatives of active youth interested in the development of Russian-Greek cooperation.
Outcomes: This meeting made it possible to discuss important aspects of relations between states, namely prospects for Russian-Greek relations and new opportunities for interaction between youth and public diplomacy, strengthening relations between two states.
Based on results of the work each platform identified priority areas of action that could become the basis for cooperation between youth of Russia and Greece. A number of ideas for bilateral projects that could be implemented jointly in the near future was voiced.
In addition, during the meeting parties agreed to hold the first Russian-Greek Youth Forum in 2022. The initiative of representatives of youth organizations of two countries was fully supported by the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The forum is scheduled to be held in the summer of 2022 in Moscow.
