A STUDENT FROM THE FACULTY OF LAW CU BECOMES PRIME MINISTER
EU COUNCIL NEGOTIATIONS SIMULATION PROJECT, 8 - 9 APRIL 2024.
Six Slovak students participated in a simulation of the Council of the European Union negotiations (#ConSIMium). The competition was organised by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. In Slovakia, the project partner was the Slovak Rectors' Conference.
The Slovak delegation was successfully represented by Sofia Šillerová from the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava, who held the position of Prime Minister and led the delegation.
On 8 and 9 April 2024, student delegates and national coordinators from EU Member States had the opportunity to experience the negotiations of Prime Ministers, ambassadors, ministers and experts at first hand or to try the role of journalists at the Council of the EU. The simulation sessions focused on digital transition, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.
Sofia said of her experience as Prime Minister: "My task was to network with the other leaders of the Member States right from the start and then to copy the actions of the leaders at the real summits. First, we had the opportunity to provide a doorstep where we expressed Slovakia's position and main objectives in the areas discussed. We then moved on to the summit, where together with other Member States' leaders we identified the main boundaries of the new EU AI and Cybersecurity Act. The following day, during Coreper, an urgent message came and a special leaders' summit had to be convened, for which we had just over 2 hours to prepare. This last experience, and the efforts of the organising team to deepen our experience of the simulation even more, was in my opinion the most beneficial. None of us expected such a situation and we had to quickly prepare our position with our great Slovak delegation and then take the time to find partners who will share our position at the Summit."