The countdown to the opening of the European Youth Week is on: on 24^th April at 9.15 am, from the floor of the European Parliament in Brussels, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (both in a video message), will officially open the European Youth Week 2026 that will bring about 800 young people to the European capital. In the programme, this will be followed by a networking event with EU’s policy-makers for a debate about European policies, young people’s ideas and expectations: the debate will involve the President of the Committee on Culture and Education, Nela Riehl, and the Commissioner for Youth, Glenn Micallef, who will talk with Yuliya Ralko, a Belarusian youth advocacy expert and journalist, and Magnus Lenngren, Vice-President of the Red Cross Youth of Norway. Then, all through the day, young people will be able to exchange views and explore strategic topics they may be interested in, such as media literacy and disinformation, employment and education, or exchanges of knowledge by choosing one of the 43 different debate rounds, or visit the “market” with 27 stalls showcasing EU’s youth initiatives, policies and programmes, or the “Three Decades of Solidarity” exhibition on Esplanade Solidarność 1980, celebrating 30 years of EU-funded volunteering programmes and the Europeans that have made a difference in society. The European Youth Week will go on until 1^st May and will run through over one thousand events scattered across the EU.