On July 16, 2020, the VI Youth Forum of the Potsdam Meetings was held. It organized by the Gorchakov Fund and the German-Russian Forum. The theme of the conference is «Germany-Russia-EU: The Pandemic and Its Influence on Foreign and Security Policies». During the conference, a wide range of issues of bilateral and international relations, prospects for overcoming the global economic crisis and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed. Besides, proposals were developed on issues of economic cooperation and ensuring international security.
The forum was attended by politicians, diplomats, representatives of the state and non-profit sectors, scientists and other specialists in the field of international relations.
On July 16, 2020, the VI Youth Forum of the Potsdam Meetings was held. It organized by the Gorchakov Fund and the German-Russian Forum. The theme of the conference is «Germany-Russia-EU: The Pandemic and Its Influence on Foreign and Security Policies». During the conference, a wide range of issues of bilateral and international relations, prospects for overcoming the global economic crisis and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed. Besides, proposals were developed on issues of economic cooperation and ensuring international security.
The forum was attended by politicians, diplomats, representatives of the state and non-profit sectors, scientists and other specialists in the field of international relations.
Among Russian participants:
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Leonid Drachevsky, Executive Director of the Gorchakov Fund, member of the RIAC Board of Trustees;
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Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-chief of «Russia in Global Politics», member of the RIAC Presidium;
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Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia, member of the RIAC Board of Trustees;
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Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Representative of the President of Russian for International Cultural Cooperation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia), member of the RIAC;
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Sergey Nechaev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Germany;
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Daria Lobanova, Deputy Executive Director of the Fund for Support of Public Diplomacy named after A.M. Gorchakov;
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Andrey Miller, Business Development Advisor, Baltic Wind GmbH;
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Nikita Pichugin, acting Director of the Department for Interaction with Government Bodies and Public Organizations of JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation;
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Alexandra Ogneva, Project Manager, Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Germany, Berlin;
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Artem Sokolov, Researcher, Center for European Studies, Institute for International Studies, MGIMO University;
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Ivan Bocharov, Referent at the RIAC.
Among the participants from the German side:
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Dirk Wiese, Member of the Bundestag (Social Democratic Party), Coordinator of Intersocietal Cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and Countries of the Eastern Partnership;
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Christian Schmidt, Member of the Bundestag of Germany (CDU/CSU), former Federal Minister;
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Martin Hoffman, executive director of the non-governmental organization German-Russian Forum, board member of the Petersburg Dialogue;
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Maria Ruzhitskaya, Chairman of the Alumni Association of the Russian-German Youth Parliament «DRUG».
Based on the results of the discussion, the participants came to the conclusion that the confrontation between the world powers continues, and the COVID-19 pandemic has not become a factor that will unite the efforts of all participants in the process and lead to rapid reconciliation. The geopolitical and national interests of individual countries play an important role in this. However, the potential for cooperation on a number of vital issues remains great. Cooperation in the health sector has great potential, and the fight against the coronavirus pandemic is not the only area in which it is necessary to actively interact. At the same time, the role of new challenges that impede the intensification of cooperation between countries is significantly increasing, among them like viruses, pathogens, hacker attacks and international terrorism.
