23/04/2026
On 16–17 April 2026, an international conference of the Joint MA in International Studies: Europe from Visegrad Perspective programme, titled “Is Visegrad Europe doomed really?”, took place in Plzeň, Czech Republic 🇨🇿
The event, hosted at the University of West Bohemia, brought together experts, scholars, and students from the Visegrad Group countries as well as from across Europe 🌍
The conference programme featured a keynote lecture by Prof. Ladislav Cabada 🎤, followed by expert discussions and two panel debates addressing key issues such as political leadership in the V4 region, the role of populist rhetoric, and the future postwar architecture of Europe in terms of security, economy, culture, and society.
The Institute of European Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow was strongly represented both among the organisers and speakers. Dr. Grzegorz Pożarlik, who is the Programme Director, also contributed as a speaker in the panel on political leadership. Prof. Kinga Gajda participated as a speaker in the panel on the future architecture of Europe. The Institute was also represented by Dr. Mirosław Natanek, Prof. Krzysztof Koźbiał, Ms Dorota Kretkowska, Ms Monika Nowak, Ms Sylwia Boryka, Ms Svetlana Baranova, and Ms Paulina Pilipiuk 👏
In addition, staff members from the Institute actively contributed to the second day of the conference, which focused on practical workshops aimed at developing students’ professional skills 💼. These included sessions on preparing CVs and motivation letters, moderated by Svetlana Baranova, as well as project preparation workshops led by Paulina Pilipiuk
and Sylwia Boryka. Students also participated actively throughout the event 🎓
The conference provided not only a platform for insightful debate on the future of the V4 region in a changing Europe, but also an excellent opportunity for academic exchange and networking 🤝. It concluded with some non-academic integration activities.
