Second European Games in Belarus

MINSK, 4 October (BelTA) – Young Belarusians will advertise the 2019 European Games and the 2021 ice hockey world championship during the World Festival of Youth and Students 2017 in Sochi, BelTA learned from Sergei Klishevich, First Secretary of the Minsk City Committee of the Belarusian national youth union BRSM.

There are plans to arrange a large-scale exhibition during the festival to showcase Belarus’ accomplishments in various spheres starting with the manufacturing sector and ending with education and culture. Attention will also be drawn to support for young people, participation of young Belarusians in public life, and to the country’s tourism potential. “Our guys will invite their peers from other countries to visit Belarus, including using the visa-free travel option. We would like as many young people from various parts of the world as possible to see unique samples of Belarus’ historical and cultural legacy, to get to know Belarusians better, to visit Minsk during the 2019 European Games and during the ice hockey world championship, which Belarus will cohost together with Latvia in 2021. With this in mind we are bringing souvenirs to Sochi and preparing all kinds of awareness-raising events,” said Sergei Klishevich. BRSM intends to attract the attention of a large number of the festival’s participants — according to preliminary data over 20,000 young people from 150 countries are expected to convene in Sochi.

The program of the festival will be intensive. Young Belarusians are expected to take an active part in various events during the WFYS 2017 such as discussions, cultural events, all kinds of entertainment, sport events, and so on. Every day will be traditionally dedicated to one of the macro regions of the planet such as America, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania, Europe, and Russia as the host country. Peculiarities and key spheres of each macro region will be highlighted. Apart from that, each day will be assigned a cross-cutting theme that will bring together panel discussions, conferences, and seminars. The topics will include cultural interaction, international security, education, science and environment, information technologies. Participants are expected to discuss the employment of young people, environmental problems, and other things. Sergei Klishevich stressed that Belarusian delegates will present the Belarusian experience of resolving these and other problems. “We will present Belarus as a country of peace, stability, good neighbors, a country open to friendship and communication in the entire range of multiple-vector international relations. It is our key task. The exhibition and informal communication with festival participants from other countries will help with it,” he added.

Belarus will send a delegation of 300 people led by Education Minister Igor Karpenko. In Sochi Belarus will be represented by talented and gifted young people, young parliamentarians, scientists, representatives of the IT sphere, and athletes. BRSM will be represented by activists from all over the country, participants of volunteer movements, winners of all kinds of contests, young employees of MAZ, Atlant, Amkodor, Belarusian Railways, and so on.

The 19th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) is scheduled for 14-22 October. The main goal of the forum is to consolidate the world’s youth and bolster international ties.