Polish-Lithuanian students’ conference

The organisers of the student conference called “Polish-Lithuanian Academy: looking for unity” are convinced that the concerned countries have a lot in common. The initiative for organising a conference was brought up a couple of years ago. The main initiator from the very beginning is a Jagiellonian cultural-educative association, called the “Jagiellonian Club” from Cracow. The conference was organised for the first time in 2009. The meeting of students is organised by the Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations school of the Vilnius University, with the Association of Vilnius University Students RePublica. A Polish Institute in Vilnius is also taking part in the project.

This year, 12 students from Lithuania and 12 students from Poland are taking part in the conference. The organisers announced that a large number of lectures will be given and discussions held in the presence of academics from both countries. Present during the opening ceremony, will be the director of the Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations of the Vilnius University, prof. Ramūnas Vilpišauskas and the director of the Polish Institute of Vilnius, Dr. Małgorzata Kasner.

The main topic that will be covered this year concern national identity, the Polish and Lithuanian languages and the history of both countries. The participants of the conference from the European University of Humanities will give a talk on the Belarusian national minority in Poland and Lithuania. The conference will be rounded off to an end by PhD Kęstutis Grinius who is a lecturer at the Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations of the University of Vilnius, with a talk on the situation existent in Lithuania after the 2012 elections.

The Polish-Lithuanian students’ conference may be a good example of efficient cooperation and two-way dialog. “As students we do not aspire to solve all sorts of conflicts between Poland and Lithuania, using the conference. We don’t get involved in the politics, we simply want to demonstrate how important good initiatives are” – said one of the conference participants, a member of the RePublica Students’ Association of the University of Vilnius, Jogilė Ulinskaitė. According to her, it is important to discuss, talk and show how much Poles and Lithuanians have in common.

Source: http://www.wilnoteka.lt/pl/artykul/polsko-litewska-konferencja-studentow

Tłumaczenie Kamil Szwarc w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Kamil Szwarc the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.