Representatives of The Foundation for the Defence of Citizens against State Abuses are taking part in an event organised by the Friends of Europe in Brussels on 25-26 October on the theme "Understanding change in a time of crisis".
The event is the 19th edition of the annual Friends of Europe festival, with this year's edition focusing on key social issues.
More than 200 guests from 40 countries will debate and propose original solutions to contemporary problems as the EU recovers from the effects of two years of pandemics and at the same time tries to face new challenges such as the energy crisis.
The central idea of this year's edition is to reinvent a "social contract" to help people navigate this era of dramatic change and crisis.
This year's guests and speakers include Ricardo Mourinho Felix, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, Nadia Calving, Vice Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of Economy and Digital Transformation, Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform, Mark Gitenstein, US Ambassador to the EU, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Dubravka Suica, Vice President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography, or Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in the Government of Ukraine.
Another important topic to be addressed is the war in Ukraine, which has brought new security challenges and may redefine the roles of governments, citizens and non-state actors such as civil society or the private sector.
FACIAS is a partner of Friends of Europe, a non-governmental, non-profit and apolitical organisation, strategic partner of the Council of Europe and the European Commission through the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), which was founded in 2008 and specialises in human rights advocacy. Our main concern and work is to defend citizens against state abuses and we act as a member of CIVICUS (World Alliance for Citizen Participation) and FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights).