On 12-14 March, the Days of Kharkiv and the International Forum "Ukraine - Slovakia" were held in Kosice (Slovak Republic).

 At the invitation of Anna Kalistova, Director of the Centre for Social and Psychological Research of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Kosice), Petro Tokar, Acting Director of the Institute of European Integration Studies, together with colleagues from UzhNU and the Uzhhorod City Council, took part in these events, which were held within the framework of the project "Cities in the Wider European Area".

The forum was attended by representatives of government agencies of Slovakia and Ukraine, diplomats, representatives of NGOs, municipalities, universities and scientific and technical institutions, representatives of the business sector and peacekeeping organisations, who made numerous presentations, held workshops and discussions, shared problems and experience in solving them in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war and in the future reconstruction of Ukraine and the development of new multilateral and bilateral relations in all areas and spheres during 4 panel discussions. They discussed the protection of critical infrastructure during the war, the creation of a partnership network between organisations in Slovakia and Ukraine, support for humanitarian initiatives, exchange of experience in the field of high technology, and new approaches to the development of good neighbourliness and cross-border cooperation.

 

The parties signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the State Space Agency of Ukraine and the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency, as well as a Memorandum on the establishment of the SPIRIT Research Centre between FED JSC and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Technical University of Kosice.

The forum ended with the opening of a unique exhibition of drawings by children from Kharkiv and Kharkiv region aged 6 to 17 on the theme "The World I Want to Live In" with the assistance of the UN Peacekeepers Association. The exhibition has already been to the USA and Canada, Brussels and will travel to other European countries after Slovakia.

Petro Tokar presented to the participants of the forum from Kyiv, Kharkiv, governmental and scientific and educational institutions of Slovakia and diplomats a collective monograph "European Development Strategies: Experience for Ukraine", published as part of the project (2020-2023) "Jean Monnet Trans-Carpathian Centre for the Study of European Development Strategies at UzhNU" by the Institute of European Integration Studies.

• Scientific Educational Institute of European Integration Researches,
• International Activities