On 28 November 2025, in Lviv, the European Youth Capital 2025, young people from Ukraine and other Council of Europe member states discussed the state and needs of young people in the context of the war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

Matvii Bidnyi, Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, opened the round table meeting and emphasized the value of co-operation and support of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, both within the Framework Programme for co-operation in the field of youth policy and the project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine".

Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, thanked the team of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine for many years of fruitful co-operation and outlined the current priorities and news of the Council of Europe youth sector.

During the discussion of international youth co-operation and Europe's solidarity with Ukraine, speeches were made by Maurizio Cattin, Vice-Chair of the Youth Advisory Council (CCJ), Georges Orlando Queiroz and Nataliia Radchuk, who represent Portugal and Ukraine in the European Steering Committee on Youth (CDEJ).

Taras Chura, Head of the Programme Department of the TVORY Network! and "Lviv — European Youth Capital 2025" and Sina Riz a Porta, Board Member of the European Youth Forum, summed up the achievements of the 2025 title for Lviv and outlined plans and further actions.

The experience, challenges and needs of young people were presented by representatives of the youth sector, including participants of the training seminar on Council of Europe approaches to the youth sector. The training was conducted by the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IV" in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils from 24 to 28 November, 2025 in Lviv.

The Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IV” is implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” for 2023–2026.

News, resources and open announcements related to the Council of Europe’s youth sector and project activities are available here.