Opening Remarks by Commissioner Kadis at the Arctic Youth Dialogue

European Commission -Speech [Check Against Delivery] Opening Remarks by Commissioner Kadis at the Arctic Youth Dialogue Kittilä, 27 June 2025 Dear colleagues, friends of Europe, and friends of the Arctic, In our Arctic policy, the EU clearly acknowledges the paramount role of young people living in the Arctic. Young people are both the present and the future. This is very clear to the European Union. We believe that no discussion is complete without listening to young people, which is now a clear mandate of all EU Commissioners for the next five years. And thus, Arctic young voices have featured prominently at the EU Arctic Forum for years now. But we felt that we could do more, so in 2023 we launched the Arctic Youth Dialogue, a new initiative under the EU Arctic policy to empower Arctic young voices. Our first activity was a policy lab during the EU Arctic Forum that took place in Nuuk, Greenland. The feedback was so positive that more needed to be done. The next step was a large project to bring together European and Arctic youth, and to offer Arctic young people means to build their capacities. This project was awarded to a consortium behind Youth Together for Arctic Futures. And yet we continued, and in 2024 we added a new full segment to the EU Arctic Forum and the Indigenous Peoples' Dialogue, which we called Arctic Youth Dialogue, too. The Arctic Youth Dialogue as a segment of the EU Arctic Forum is very special. It is more than co-led or...