On September 5th and 6th another edition of the Conference Europe of the Carpathians will be held. Parliamentarians, ministers, experts and local government officials will meet in Krynica-Zdroj to discuss migration policy, development strategy for the Carpathians and the security of the region, infrastructure in Central Europe and the future of the European Union. The host and organizer of the event is Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński, whose speech will open the Forum.

September 5. 10:45-11:45 Europe's neighbors or neighbors in Europe?

In this part, the discussion will focus on migration policy issues, experiences and the southern and eastern dimensions of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The moderator will be Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Ryszard Terlecki, and the speakers will be Calin Popescu-Tariceanu (President of the Senate, Romania), Stanisław Karczewski (Speaker of the Senate), Vladimir Marinkovic (Deputy President of the Skupstina Republika Srpska), Micaela Navarro Garzón (Vice-Chairperson of the Congress of Deputies of Spain), János Latorcai (Vice-Chairperson of the National Assembly of Hungary), Krzysztof Szczerski (Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland) and Andrija Nikolić (Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants of the Republic of Poland). Andrija Nikolić (Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants of the Parliament of Montenegro).

11:55-12:55 Development in the Carpathians - Development around the Carpathians

The next panel discussion will include questions about the future of the Carpathian macro-regional strategy. The debate will be moderated by Jerzy Kwieciński, Minister of Investment and Development. The panellists in this part of the conference will be Mihály Varga, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Hungary, Dan Octav Paxino (Secretary of State in the Ministry of European Funds in Romania), Władysław Ortyl (Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship), Oleksandr Hanushchyn (President of the Lviv Regional Council), Ján Ferenčák (Mayor of Kežmarok, Member of the European Committee of the Regions), Jean Pierre Halkin (Head of Unit, Directorate General for Regional Policy, European Commission), Denisa Žiláč (Member of the European Commission), Denisa Žiláč (Member of the European Commission). Denisa Žiláková (Director General of the Central Coordinating Body in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Investment and Information Technology of Slovakia).

13:05-14:20 Central Europe - infrastructure under reconstruction

Via Carpatia, Rail Baltica and High Speed Railway Warsaw-Kraków-Brno-Bratislava-Budapest-Belgrade - these are the main issues that will be discussed during this part of the meeting. The discussion will be moderated by Bogdan Rzonca MP, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee. The speakers will be: Andrzej Adamczyk (Minister of Infrastructure), Rokas Masiulis (Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania), Árpád Érsek (Minister of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic), Volodymyr Omelyan (Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine), Dan Ťok (Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic) and Péter Szijjártó (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary).

14:25-15:25 "Quo vadis, Europe?" - directions of European development and the future of the European Union

The next part of the conference will be devoted to parliamentary diplomacy, cooperation in the macro-region, questions about the blurring of the distinction between old and new member states and about combining demands for greater integration in the EU with the concept of a Europe of solidary and sovereign states. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Zdzisław Krasnodębski, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and the following participants will take part in it: Richárd Hörcsik (Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs of the Hungarian Parliament), David Engels (Free University of Brussels), Prof. Waldemar Paruch (Centre for Strategic Analysis), Alexander Tomsky (Managing Director, Leda Publishers, Czech Republic), Aymerick Chauprade, MEP.

17:15-18:30 Silent grasslands - how to ensure political security in Carpathian Europe?

Cooperation within the Visegrad Group, neighborhood in the East, cooperation within NATO - these are some of the topics of the last Wednesday panel. The moderator will be Zsolt Nemeth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian National Assembly, and the special guest will be Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz. Speakers in the discussion will include: József Czukor (Office of the Council of Ministers, Hungary), Ben-Oni Ardelean (Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament), Tomasz Szatkowski (Undersecretary of State, Ministry of National Defence), Martin Fedor (Chairman of the Slovak-Polish Parliamentary Group in the National Council of the Slovak Republic), Lolita Čigāne (Chair of the Committee on European Affairs in the Parliament of Latvia), Miro Kovač (Chair of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Parliament of Croatia), and Jan Farsky (Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic).

The Wednesday part of the conference will be followed by an award ceremony for the Carpathian projects. During the event the speech of the Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński is planned.

September 6. 10:40-11:55 The Paths of the Sages - Collegium Carpathicum

During the first panel on Thursday, the discussion will focus on Collegium Carpathicum, a new project of academic cooperation in the Carpathian region. The discussion will be moderated by Jan Malicki, Director of the East European Studies at the University of Warsaw. The panel will include: Sándor Őze (Director of the Institute of History, Catholic University of Budapest), Slawomir Solecki (Vice-Chancellor of the State Eastern European University in Przemysl), Jan Lata (Rector of the University of Ostrava), Ladislav Šuhányi (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Prešov), Igor Cependa (Rector of the National University of Carpathia in Ivano-Frankivsk) and Stefan Purici (Deputy Rector of Stefan III the Great University in Suceava).

12:05-13:05 Intermodality? Trilateralism? The Idea of Interparliamentary Assembly of Central and Eastern Europe

Inter-Morze, Tri-City, pillars and shortcomings of cooperation between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe - these are some of the topics of the next part of the conference. The host will be MP Włodzimierz Bernacki, chairman of the Polish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the speakers will be: Angelo Farrugia (President of the House of Representatives of Malta), Gordana Čomić (Vice-President of the National Assembly of Serbia), Ognjen Tadić (Vice-President of the House of Nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Bogdan Borusewicz (Deputy Speaker of the Senate), Andrius Kubilius (Vice-President of the Committee on European Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania) and Mykola Kniazhytski (Co-Chairman of the Ukrainian-Polish Friendship Group in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine).

13:15-14:15 Central Europe - the keystone of cultures - Christian foundations

The next panel will focus on symbols, myths, archetypes and the role of Christianity in shaping the contemporary face of Europe. The moderator will be Prof. Maciej Szymanowski, advisor to the Speaker of the Sejm, director of the W. Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation. Panelists of this part of the conference: Matyáš Zrno (deputy director of the think tank Civic Institute - Obcanský Institut from the Czech Republic), Pavol Mačala (Scientific Association Personalizm, Slovakia), Rev. Abp. Zbigniew Stankiewicz (Metropolitan of Riga), Lorinc Nacsa (deputy to the National Assembly of Hungary), Rev. Franjo Topić (President of the Croatian Cultural Association "Napredak", Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zbigniew Krysiak (Warsaw School of Economics, President of the Schuman Thought Institute) and Csaba György Kiks (Warsaw University).

14:25-15:25 Karpacka oikouménē - how to save it for future generations?

The final part of the conference will be devoted to the sustainable development of mountain lands in Europe's development policies and the use of resources in the Carpathians. The debate will be moderated by Markijan Malskyj, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, Lviv University, and the panel will include Lajos Kepli (Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Sustainable Development, National Assembly, Hungary), MP Małgorzata Gosiewska (Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs), Artur Michalski (Deputy Chairman of the Board of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management) and Ján Mičovský (former Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic).