Iuliia AgaKulieva found out about AEGEE two years ago. She was president of AEGEE-Tyumen, where she worked hard to upgrade the contact to a contact antenna and she succeed. Her next challenge is running for member of the Mediation Commission. The AEGEEan talked with her to learn more about her and her plans.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell us more about yourself?

Iuliia: I am Iuliia, I’m from Siberia, Russia. I have a masters’ degree of law and now I am a PhD student. The topic of my thesis is “An administrative responsibility of judicial persons for offences in the area of oil and gas.”
In the past I worked in a court as an assistant to the judge. One year and a half ago, my friend offered me a good job in Saint-Petersburg. I decided that it was my chance to be part of the best work team in my life. Now I’m a Court receiver. We are focused on human rights protection, bankruptcy, economical disputes. Although I have such a serious job I’m curious and have many different hobbies such as cheerleading, snowboarding, surfing and working with children. I knew about AEGEE in April 2015, I took part in my first Summer University in Czech Republic and fell in love with the big AGEEE-family. I was the President of our small Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Tyumen one year later. I’ve done everything to upgrade our Contact to Contact-Antenna on Agora Enschede and it is not the limit for us! AEGEE, new people and travelling inspire me to be myself!

What motivated you to apply for member of the Mediation Commission?

I want to be a member of the Mediation Commission because my life is connected with law, justice and tolerance. People don’t only have rights, also they have responsibilities. AEGEE is a really big organisation, geography of new locals is expanding from year to year. The distance between the most western local (Las Palmas) and the most eastern local (Tyumen) is more than 8.000 km. We have more than 13.000 members throughout AEGEE and all of them have their own identity. Actually, I’m from Asia (Tyumen), I would like to share my view in solving cases and bring some fresh ideas. I want to help members to follow the rules and follow the order.

What do you think it’s the main job of the MedCom?
Mediation Commission is an independent body who makes decisions in different issues from time to time. In my opinion, the main aim of MedCom is a discussion with locals, bodies and other commissions and making lists of advice or prevention letters before they will get an official request with a case. It is better to prevent a problem than to solve its consequences.

If you have to explain to a 10 years old child what the MedCom is doing, what would you say?

AEGEE is like a big big big Kingdom with lots of small cities. Sometimes their citizens have fights between each other. The Mediation Commission is like a Department of fairies. They come and solve all problems and conflicts between citizens.

According to you, what do you think is the most important quality to be in the MedCom and why do you have it?

Justice is one of fundamental principles which I am guided by in life. Circumstances can be different, but taking also objective causes into consideration we can find the real reason of the dispute. An independent approach to the situation will allow to make a true decision.

You can read her full candidature here.

Written by Lia Touska, AEGEE-Brussel/AEGEE-Sofia

Today we introduce you to Oğuzhan Ayhan, the only candidate for the Audit Commission. He has already been Audit Commissioner since Agora Enschede. The AEGEEan asked him some questions to learn more about his plans.

The AEGEEan: Please describe yourself in three words and tell us why you chose them.
Oğuzhan: I’m a patient, hardworking and dedicated person. I chose them because I think I have such qualities.

Why did you decide to run for a position in the Audit Commission again?
In the future I want to work in finances and working as Audit Commission gives a great experience. My first term was a short period of time and I learnt what to do and how to do so, and this time I will work for a longer time with better knowledge.

According to you, what do you think is the most important quality to be in Audit Commission and why do you have it?
I think the most important thing is financial knowledge because without that being in the Audit Commission is meaningless. I have been in the Audit Commission for about a year as a subcommissioner and a commissioner and also other than that I was treasurer of some projects so, because of these I think I have enough knowledge about finances.

If you had to choose, what would be the main point of your programme and why?
I think the most important point of my programme is maintaining a local approach with treasurers. To do so, I want to continue with subcommissioners again because as I see some treasurers are not good at English and with the help of people who can speak their language they can get the help they need more easily.

Questions from the Network

What would you rather keep and what would you rather change with respect to the current Audit Commission?
I want to change the communication with locals. We need to improve that to be better and to do it we need a big team and this is what I want to keep. Without a big team of Audit Commission (subcommissioners and treasurers) to do this is impossible.

How do you envision to have more understanding from locals about your technical work? Do you have some ideas in mind?
Well, we already have the Fiscal Law Database, a new Template, a new Toolkit, Podio, InterTemporal Register and 30 minutes of webinar about financial reports. In any case, I’m always open to questions.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Lia Touska, AEGEE-Brussel/AEGEE-Sofia

Most of you, during the Agora, watch the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson preside over the meeting. But how about the Secretary of the Agora? The only thing people witness of him/her, is them typing during the Agora, but being Secretary of the Agora has some privileges!

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1. You are in the spotlight.
Together with the rest of the Chair Team, you are the centre of the attention for a couple of days. You are the one who creates and revise the agenda. So, when people have questions or what to change something, they will come to your table and ask you for assistance.

2. You cannot miss a Plenary.
You are on stage during (almost) all Plenaries, cause it’s kind of your duty to record all the minutes of the Agora. But, if it’s your thing, you have the added benefit of not having to speak. Speaking of standing in the centre of a spotlight, sometimes they literally shine too brightly onto the stage. Luckily, that’s just an opportunity to put on some cool shades.

3. You can skip the queues for meals.
This might sound like something form George Orwell’s Animal Farm: ‘all AEGEEans are equal, but the Chair Team is a bit more equal than others’, but it actually has an important function. As a Secretary of the Agora, you have to be present at a Prytanium before it even starts, and since queuing up for food might take forever, you might not be able to finish you meal, or not have any food at all. Therefore, it becomes sort of necessary to queue barge… sorry, hopefully everyone can understand.

4. You have your own assistants.

You may be important, but you’re not all-powerful. During the Prytania slots, there are three parallel sessions and it is impossible to cover them alone. That’s why you need assistants to help you during the Agora. Also, after the Agora the assistants need to finish their sessions and you might need some proofreaders to help you. Thanks you guys!

5. You have internet access most of the times.

The internet is pretty great; the U.N. even deemed it a basic human necessity. However, while some people will even ask you for the WiFi-password for… personal things, you need an internet connection to access the agenda, which might change considerably during an Agora. You also need the internet to constantly communicate with the rest of the Chair Team and with your assistants. It’s kind of an important tool for chaos prevention; the internet, to a secretary, it’s more than just Tumblr.

6. You know everything that happened during the Agora.

You have recordings, and sometimes video footage, of all the Plenaries and Prytania.
After the Agora, can listen to the recordings or watch the videos in order to deliver accurate minutes of the Agora. You know, for everyone who doesn’t have the photographic memory of BBC’s Sherlock.

7. You don’t  pay the Agora fee.
Also, after you deliver the minutes, you get reimbursed for your trip. A lovely ‘thank you’ for doing a nice, good job.

If you are interested, you can apply for Secretary of Agora Chişinău till the 20th of June.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

After attending Network Meeting (NWM) Berlin, some members of AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden thought it would be great to organise a NWM themselves. They didn’t just get the chance to organise a NWM, but also to organise a NWM different from the others. NWM Mainz-Wiesbaden is not organised by the Network Commissioner responsible for AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden, making it the first NWM that proves the vision of AEGEE for a borderless Europe. The AEGEEan asked one of the organisers, Rene Schröder, and Network Commisioner, Hanna Alajõe, about the upcoming NWM.

The AEGEEan: Tell us more about your local.
Rene: AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden is a small, but highly motivated antenna. After the board had nearly completely changed, we as well faced to restructure our antenna to a more networking attitude. We are willing to participate in more European events than before and will also organise events ourselves. With the help of the new recruitment strategy and new PR-work, we hope to get recognised both in Europe and in Mainz to gain more interested people.

Why did you decide to apply for hosting a NWM?
The organisation of the Spring NWM 2016 was a ‘glimpse of a moment’ idea. Because some of us had recently taken part in the NWM Berlin, we were quite enthusiastic organising one for ourselves – to show the AEGEE network how motivated we are. The idea reached immense support within the antenna. However, we had to face some challenges in finding an accommodation, because our usual accommodations are crowded with refugees, both in Mainz and Wiesbaden. Thanks to our Network Commission, we were able to create an all-time-first: because our Netcom (Marieke) has got to plan another NWM, we got into contact with Hanna, who is normally responsible for the “Nordic Stars”. Thereby, we already live in borderless Europe while organising beyond borders. It would be great if other antennae follow our path to make Europe even more open.

What is the name of your NWM? Can you explain it?
NWM Mainz-Wiesbaden: How to…? Crazy theme, right? No! Because do you know, how to enjoy the AEGEE spirit? Do you know how to recruit people and overcome difficulties in your antenna? Do you know how to have fun the “Rhine-hessian” way? Do you know what it’s like to spend three nights in two cities in one antenna? See, that’s why we have chosen this topic! We are excited to show you that and so much more in our workshops and our social time, where you will get to know around 30 people from all over the network, a nice Netcommie and also a Comité Directeur member, as well as an external speaker.

How is the cooperation with the NetCommie?
We’re working together with Hanna, and until now the cooperation works pretty well. We’re exchanging information and ideas about the social program, the content and everything else. As we’re not living in the same part of Europe, we are communicating via Skype and Facebook instead of actually meeting, but it still works out fine!

What does the program of the NWM include?
Hanna: Although the program is not completely set yet, I can say that there will be some awesome sessions happening. For example, besides me and a CD member as a trainer/facilitator, there will be at least one European Body represented and also another NetCommie – so a lot of variety in sessions is sure to be. Some of the sessions of the program are also already announced in the event description and I am very open to suggestions from participants as well. NWMs are there for the Network, so when applying, don’t be shy to express your opinion about what you’d like to see.
And talking about the social program – AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden will make it amazing with the EN, pub crawl and a city tour.

What is the main goal of the NWM? Can you share some ideas you already have about it?
The main goal of the NWM is as described in the CIA: “sharing best practices, keeping the locals closer to each other, connecting them with the European level, updating them about last progresses and launching initiatives. Network Meetings should improve the functioning of the locals, increase cooperation between them, to inspire and renew the motivation of active members.”
But the name of the NWM in Mainz-Wiesbaden is “How to…?” meaning we will talk about different how-to’s, like how to get new members, how to be more active as a local, how to cooperate with European Bodies, how to have fun in Wiesbaden etc.
My biggest goal and hope for the NWM is to have active participants, willing to express their opinion and being motivated afterwards – I want the NWM to be a discussion, not a training [she smiles].

What are your plans for the social program?
Rene: Of course we want to show you the best parts of our both home-cities. Both of the cities have beautiful historic centres, and you will get to know it in a cool pub crawl and a city tour, where you will get to know the wine, which is very common in our region. Of course, we will have an awesome European Night, too.

What are AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden upcoming activities?
After the NWM we will fully concentrate on our Model European Union, which will take place in July this year. It is our big annual event since 2009, now having its seventh edition. We’re also planning to do a Members’ Weekend and some internal training for our team. As our board term has just started on February 1st, we don’t have a completely finished schedule for the upcoming term, but we are working on it consistently and we are looking forward to a good year in Mainz-Wiesbaden. And, foremost, we are excited for our NWM in April!

You can apply for the NWM here and here.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

In 2015, Human Rights Day has been celebrated with various activities and discussions all around the AEGEE network. This year, ten antennae, namely AEGEE-Aachen, AEGEE-Ankara, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca, AEGEE-Madrid, AEGEE-Odessa, AEGEE-Patra, AEGEE-Ploieşti, AEGEE-Sankt-Peterburg, AEGEE-Skopje and AEGEE-Tenerife, organised forums, lectures and other kind of events in an attempt to promote and raise awareness about human rights. Celebrated on and around December 10th, the Humans Rights Day activities addressed around 300 people, both AEGEEans and non-AEGEEans, giving them a platform for learning and discussing the human rights-related issues that were relevant to their daily lives.

The types of activities organised by the locals varied widely from mini-human library to film-forum; from role-plays to informative lectures. Organised in collaboration with Democracy in Practice, these events opened new windows for the participants to look at human rights issues, as the evaluations gathered from the participants indicate. Not only did the participants learn about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which marks the basis for the Human Rights Day, but in some events, they also examined the question of refugees which has been on the front burner in Europe for a long time now.

There were many workshops implemented in common by some antennae. For example, AEGEE-Madrid, AEGEE-Patra, AEGEE-Ploieşti and AEGEE-Tenerife included the workshop called “Three Things”, which asks the participants to decide on what three things they would take with them if they were forced to flee their homes. This activity was effective in giving a mock first-hand impression to the young Europeans of what kind of an experience it is to be a refugee.

Another workshop that was popular among the locals was the “Human Rights Tree”. The participants in AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca, AEGEE-Patra, AEGEE-Ploieşti and AEGEE-Skopje had the opportunity to build their own trees that were embellished with the names of the Human Rights they value the most. They also added to their trees how and by what means these rights could be provided in their societies. Along with revealing what the most crucial Human Rights are in their contexts, this workshop familiarized the participants with the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by providing a platform for comparing their tree with the articles in the Declaration.

Different from these workshops, AEGEE-Ankara organised a mini-human library that included an Armenian and a LGBT individual as its books. Being subject to excessive prejudices in the society, this event aimed at bringing together the subject and the object of the prejudices in order to contribute to the formation of a society where borders are crossed and Human Rights are protected. In this event, ten people had the chance to communicate and ask their questions to the Armenian and LGBT individuals in person and in private, which eventually broadened the readers’ horizons by revisiting their prejudices.

In another event organised by AEGEE-Sankt-Peterburg, the participants were formally informed about the history of Human Rights, bioethics, euthanasia, abortion and many others, via presentation. Encompassing various sides of Human Rights, AEGEEans in Sankt-Peterburg found a chance to learn and ask about Human Rights as well as doing a Human Rights Photos activity for the celebration of this important date.

AEGEE-Aachen was another antenna that chose to celebrate this day with photos, but in a different format. The participants of AEGEE-Aachen’s event wrote the Universal Human Rights on big sheets and everyone took a photo with their sheet. By publishing these photos on social media, AEGEE-Aachen managed to raise awareness about the Universal Human Rights granted to each and every individual and to draw attention to the topic of Human Rights.

Film-Forums were also preferred activities to draw attention to the various aspects of Human Rights. AEGEE-Madrid and AEGEE-Odessa organised events where they watched a movie related to Human Rights, and after the movie they created an environment in which the participants could analyze the movie in relation with the Human Rights and with the cases that encapsulate their everyday lives.

Lastly, one of the most impressive workshops was the “Language Barrier” one, organised by AEGEE-Ploieşti and AEGEE-Tenerife. It was also aimed at showing the difficulties the refugees face in their everyday hassles. In particular, the problems resulting from not speaking the language of the countries the refugees are migrating are acted out as realistically as possible. Many participants expressed their puzzlement and empathy for the refugees who experience these problems on a daily basis, and they said they were moved to act on this matter.

In a nutshell, around the 10th of December AEGEE was busy learning and raising awareness about Human Rights in collaboration with its locals and Democracy in Practice. The organisers did an excellent job in emphasizing the different aspects of Humans Rights with various activities by including altogether around 300 people. However, as many of us would expect, Human Rights are a sensitive and ever-hot topic that should be kept in the agenda at all times and that should be worked on. Therefore, we invite all the AEGEEans to do more activities to promote the proper implementation of Human Rights and to create a Europe where Human Rights are kept above everything else.

If you wish to organise Human Rights Activities, please check the Human Rights Activities Guidelines and fill in this form.
If you wish to organise Active Citizenship Activities, please check the Democracy Activities Guidelines and fill in this form.

Written by Zeynep Eda Alpsoy, AEGEE-Ankara on behalf of Democracy in Practice

On the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of January, Youth Mobility Working Group had a meeting in Brussels. They discussed their future activities and planned the next steps for the second half of their term, but most importantly, they bonded! The AEGEEan asked them what they have done so far and what they are preparing for the upcoming semester. Find out more below…

The AEGEEan: Who is in the team? What are their tasks?
Youth Mobility Working Group: The members of our team are directly connected to the objectives of our Focus Area, so we have: Natalia Ivleva (AEGEE-Voronezh), responsible for Objective 1 – Establishing and managing a group of visa supporters; Suzan Dilara Tokac (AEGEE-Eskişehir), responsible for Objective 2 – Training members on youth mobility programs and grant opportunities; Anastasiia Dzhulai (AEGEE-Kyïv), responsible for Objective 3 – Establishing long-term discount agreements with mobility service providers; and Lia Georgieva (AEGEE-Berlin) as the Public Relations responsible of our Working Group. The team is coordinated by Antonis Triantafyllakis and our appointed CD member is Maryana Semenyak.

What is each taskforce’s aim? Are there still open positions?
There is a taskforce required in order to fulfil each of our three objectives. In brief, the taskforce members will take care of researching visa issues and locals’ Erasmus+ applications, support us in writing guidelines for visa applications and applying for funds, provide info on national and international regulations and agreements, fundraise for travel discounts and more, all of which you can see in detail in our open calls here.
And, yes, the open calls will remain open for as long as taskforce members are needed, so… APPLY!
By the way, we’re also looking for a Policy Officer! So, if any AEGEEan feel they can present the opinion of the network on youth mobility with their awesome writing skills, here is where to look.

What have you done so far?
We’ve had a couple of open google hangouts on visa issues and Erasmus+, a cool workshop on Erasmus+ in NWM Kraków, an open session in NWM Berlin and very nice discussions during the workshop in Agora Kyïv. We have also started collaborating with various European bodies in AEGEE, gave the first tasks to our task force members (we need more people!) and, of course, have created a website and an active facebook page, but I think the future lies ahead of us!

What are your future plans? Any upcoming activities in the near future?
Too many to mention in just a few lines, but we are planning on collaborating with embassies as well as preparing detailed and easy-to-follow guidelines and infographics for visa and Erasmus+ applications, suggestions for the upcoming Action Agenda, a training course on Erasmus+, resources for easy travelling within Europe and beyond and big plans for collaborating with both European bodies of AEGEE and active AEGEEans! Of course we need more taskforce members to support us in the process, but be prepared to see a lot more of us in the second half of our term. See you at the EPM, Spring NWMs, Agora Bergamo and, generally, see you somewhere in Europe!

You just had a meeting in Brussels. Who was there? What did you discuss?
The whole team was there! That was the meeting where we basically developed a concrete, detailed plan in order to fulfil our objectives for the second half of our term, as described in the current Action Agenda, as well as our contributions to the next Action Agenda. Perhaps more importantly though, this meeting helped us get much closer to each other and develop this bond that is not only essential to keep the motivation in voluntary work such as ours, but also, as we’re developing strong international friendships, it is also a real life practice of what we aim for in AEGEE, our common vision for a borderless Europe!

Anything to add?
Many people might think that the refugee crisis, however important, is still something outside of us, where we should of course do our best to help, but it is not really affecting the inter-European relationships themselves. But take a look at borders being raised again in Europe, both physically, in the form of fences, and mentally, in the form of the Schengen zone being suspended, border controls being re-instated and visa requirements put in place of visa-free regimes, like Russia and Turkey and you may perceive that AEGEE’s vision of a borderless Europe might be at stake… Come to our workshop at the EPM and we can have a fruitful discussion about that.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

From the 7th till the 10th of January, AEGEEans gathered in Pireaus for the event “EU debt & Refugee Crisis: How successfully does the EU manage it? Will the EU survive?” organised by AEGEE-Peiraias in collaboration with Democracy in Practice. The first day of the sessions, the 8th of January, was dedicated to the topic of the Refugee Crisis and the second one to the topic of EU debt. Eight participants from Romania, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Ukraine, several ones from Greece, members of AEGEE-Peiraias and AEGEE-Athina, but also non-AEGEE members attended the event.

The first day began with expressing the participants’ expectations and most of them were interested in the refugee crisis topic and curious about the EU debt. Some of them considered that this event can represent a starting point for discussing and expressing ideas for the upcoming European Planning Meeting (EPM).
After sharing their expectations, the part dedicated to the refugee crisis started. “Are you comfortable with talking about it?”, asked the first facilitator, Mara Poniros. That is how a fruitful session started, a discussion during which participants answered each other’s questions.

What is the situation right now? Some countries are willing to help refugees, but they believe that they should stay in safe zones, close to their countries. Turkey hosts about two million refugees, but Saudi Arabia does not accept any refugees. What refugees ask for is an asylum which they either get and stay, or they do not get it and are sent back to their countries. If one asks for asylum, one has to stay there until the decision is made. Most of the time, it takes about two years. They have to check several details to decide if they are going to provide asylum. In some countries like Bulgaria, the refugees are stuck there in camps for all that time. People tend to forget about the children who have to live in these conditions and, unfortunately, their childhood is “stopped” there. There are some Projects, like LUX Project in Bulgaria and Children’s Photo Workshop in the Turkish and Bulgarian refugee camps with the aim of entertaining the kids.

How to integrate the refugees? This is the most difficult thing to do. People want to help, it is easy to find a place to live or to provide food, but it is hard to find positions.

What about their education? This is the first step for the integration process. Some of them are already educated. If the integration begins at this point, it will be a lot smoother in the future. This way we can prevent collapse. We should not make them change their identity, but create a diverse identity.
After that discussion, Aristea Bismpiki, member of AEGEE-Peiraias and volunteer of Starfish, shared her one-week experience on Lesvos island, where she went to help with the arrivals of the refugees from Turkey. “The first thing you do as a volunteer there is to clean the beach. While cleaning the beach you can find many different things that refugees leave behind when they arrive, such as: clothes, inflatable boats, life jackets and every time a boat passes, new items are coming on the beach. Who would go on such a dangerous trip? This is a question many volunteers think about while they are on this stage. When the refugees arrive they do not know where they are. They need information. Some of them do not even want to change their clothes. The volunteers tasks are to count the refugees, give them information and register them. The stories they tell you are important because they flee for survival. There are many ways to help. I want to go there again, you can also go!”

Next, there was the workshop of Democracy in Practice – “The stories they confess”. Participants were separated in four groups. Each group had a story of a person influenced by the refugee crisis. Each story had three stops: the past, the journey/incident and the present of that person. The stories were cut into pieces and participants had to make a collage out of them and present the story like it was their own, in first person. There were photos, but also parts of other stories. Participants felt closer to those people, they were surprised by some of them and admired their courage.
The day was closed by Romy Cartiere, Content Manager of the EPM and proposer of the chosen topic, who did a presentation. “What can you do?” was the main question. Firstly, she explained what inspired her to propose this topic. Then she moved to “What can AEGEE do?”, where the education of its members and taking action are the key answers. Romy shared her idea of a European Project that will do Case Study trips to document the circumstances and to have direct contact with the refugees and the citizens.

How can this be supported? It can be supported by different NGOs, like Issues without borders, the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the members of the European Parliament. We are going to have more information about this Project soon.

The second day focused on the EU debt topic. The first session started with a discussion during which all participants presented what they know, from their point of view, what information they get from the media in their countries, and the audience consisting of AEGEE and non-AEGEE members interacted and answered their questions. The second session implied watching the documentary “Debtocracy” by Aris Chatzistefanou and Katerina Kitidi. The documentary examines the causes of the Greek debt crisis in 2010 and advocates for the default of “odious debt”.
The day and the event ended with the speech of Zoe Konstantopoulou, former President of the Greek Parliament, who spoke about her experience in “Truth Committee on Public Debt”. Why was this committee created? Firstly, since 2013, according to the European Law, countries are supposed to “carry out a comprehensive audit of its public finances in order, inter alia, to assess the reasons that led to the build-up of excessive levels of debt as well as to track any possible irregularity”. Until now only Greece did so. Debt audit is also an obligation stemming from the international law. Last but not least, this committee was created based on the democratic right of the citizens to know how and why this debt was created. The new government elected on January 2015 took the decision to create and support this committee. Who were the members of this committee? Experts from different countries and citizen representatives. What did this committee do? They investigated the Greek debt and found out that it is odious. They published a preliminary report on July 2015. Unfortunately, this report was never used by the government.
You can watch the whole speech of Zoe Konstantopoulou here.
You can find the preliminary report of the Truth Committee on Public Debt here.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

Have you ever noticed similarities between your country’s and other countries’ traditions for Christmas? There are many symbols attached to this holiday in Europe, and each country has kept its own identity and traditions, while enriching them with influences form various other sources. This diversity and richness prove the importance given by Europeans to the Christmas holiday. This year the AEGEEan asked and found out how people celebrate Christmas in Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

Let’s start from the place where the festive period begins really early. In Romania, celebrations start on November 30th, the day of Saint Andrew. Customs say everyone should hang plenty of garlic and a crucifix next to all doors and windows of the house to keep evil spirits away from their home. At the beginning of December, the Christmas lights are turned on all over the streets. Moş Nicolae comes and gives children presents. Children receive their gifts early in the morning of December 6th, or late at night on December 5th; traditionally, gifts are put in their laced up boots. On December 20th, Saint Ignatius Day, Romanians start the last preparations for Christmas. On this date, they slaughter pigs for the Christmas Eve supper. “Around this date, people usually buy their Christmas trees from public markets or supermarkets.”, Ioana Nedelcu (AEGEE-Ploieşti) told us.
December 24rd it’s Noaptea de ajun, the day children usually start caroling their neighbours. Music is an important part of Christmas celebration all over Romania. There is a special genre of music, related to Christmas carols but with more traditional/Christian lyrics. These are named colindă, which are also popular in Moldova. On the same date, women bake traditional cookies to give children for their caroling. By this time, the Christmas tree must usually already be decorated. During Christmas, Romanians bake or buy various special dishes, including desserts and sweets. Romanians most usually bake cozonac, a type of sweet bread. You can fill the cozonac with walnuts, cocoa, raisins, Turkish delight and in Transylvania: poppy seed paste (cozonac cu mac). Plates heaped with small pastries and cakes (corni și baclava) are prepared to serve to carollers when they call. A boiled vegetable and chicken salad held together with mayonnaise and decorated with olives and boiled eggs is often prepared. It is called Salată de boeuf (from French), although it usually does not contain beef. Other Christmas dishes include piftie, sarmale and pork dishes.

In Moldova, although Christmas is celebrated on December 25th like in Romania, January 7th is also recognised as an official holiday. On Christmas Day, families are having breakfast and/or lunch together.

In Greece, Christmas caroling is also very popular and there are actually three official caroling days. The custom is that children go from house to house singing the carol, with the accompaniment of a triangle, and residents of the house give them a small amount of money. Greek Christmas carols (calanda) are sung on the mornings of Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and January 5, the Eve of the Epiphany. About thirty to twenty years ago, carolers were getting cookies for singing the calanda.

Homemade kourabiedes

Melomakarona and kourabiedes are the two varieties of Christmas and New Year’s cookies in Greece. The first are semolina, cinnamon, and clove cookies drenched in honey, while the second are fresh butter cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar that are normally served on New Year’s, but many succumb to temptation and begin consuming them earlier. Vasilopita is a cake that is eaten on New Year’s Day. Before the cake is baked, a coin covered in foil is placed in it. The person who cuts the cake makes the sign of the cross three times above it and then starts serving the pieces, one to each person, the house, Christ, The Virgin Mary and Saint Vasileios. Whoever has the coin in his piece of cake will have luck for the rest of the year.
On the 1st of January, Saint Vasileios (Saint Basil the Great) from Caesarea, Cappadocia (Turkey), brings the gifts to the children. People in Greece also celebrate Epiphany on the 6th January. In the Greek Orthodox Church, Epiphany celebrates Jesus’s baptism when he was a man. There are many events throughout the country where young men dive into really cold lakes, rivers and the sea to try to be the first to get a cross which has been blessed by a priest and thrown into the water. Whoever gets the cross first is meant to have good luck during the coming year.

“Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun” this is how you say “Merry Christmas” in Turkish. However, how Christmas and the new year is perceived depends on where you are in Turkey. Christians who live in Turkey celebrate Christmas at churches or with family gatherings. In many districts of major cities the lights, Christmas decorations and trees appear in early December. In Turkey Christmas is of course not celebrated as a religious holiday. It can, in many ways, be comparable to Father’s day, Mother’s Day, Valentines Day and so on. Christmas is brought to Turkey by the major stores and supermarkets who have seen their chance to implement this festive celebration. There are some very natural differences to the way other Christian countries celebrate Christmas. In Turkey there is no dancing around the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols, just like Christmas cookies and socks over the fireplace are not a part of the tradition yet. But they have Christmas trees and Santa Claus and gifts! In the last years in Turkey they started celebrating the New Year by exchanging gifts.

On the other hand, in Ukraine the festive period starts on New Years Eve. Ukrainians usually congregate in a house of their families and/or friends. They have many dishes at the table, so they start with food, watching different TV shows and chatting. When it is 00:00 the champagne is opened, and there are exclamations “Urrraaaa” (Hurrah) and people wishing everyone Happy New Year. “After midnight, children find their presents under the New Year tree, some other people are just exchanging presents, telling nice words to people. Then Ukrainians call other friends, who are not celebrating with them and congratulate everyone they think is important. Very often the mobile network is overloaded. Then we have parties till the morning, and go to bed at 02:00-08:00 (it depends). In the morning celebration continues.”, says Hanna Polishchuk (AEGEE-Kyiv).
On the 6th of January it is Sviat Vechir (Holy Evening). In the evening, after 6pm all family congregates at the table, which has 12 dishes (obligatory). The main dish is called Kutia (sweet grain pudding), and everyone should eat at least one spoon of this dish first. After dinner, children (and sometimes adults) wear traditional clothes and go around carol singing. People give them sweets and close friends give also money. The next day (January 7th) is Christmas. In the morning people tell each family member “The Christ was born”, and they answer “Glory to Him”. They tell this three times, and each time people kiss the cheek of the person, to whom they tell these words. On this day people continue going round carol-singing. There is a tradition to forgive everyone on this day.

Photo by Szabina Hellinger

In Hungary, Santa is called Mikulás and comes on the 6th of December instead of Christmas. He brings presents to children in their boots in case they have been behaving well all throughout the year. If they have been naughty, they get some rods (for being whipped with) from krampuses instead. “On Christmas night, the 24th of December (Szenteste = Holy Night) we decorate our Christmas tree indoors and “Little Jesus” (Jézuska) is supposed to bring nice presents for the kids untill the next morning, placing them under the tree.”, Balázs Kovács (AEGEE-Debrecen) told us. The Christmas decoration involves szaloncukor, special Hungarian goodies.

Hoping you enjoyed reading this article, the AEGEEan would like to wish you Merry Christmas anywhere you are!

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

During Autumn Agora Kyїv, six new members of the Network Commission (NetCom) were elected, namely: Lavinia Ţole (AEGEE-București), Lisa Gregis (AEGEE-Bergamo), Loes Rutten (AEGEE-Utrecht), Malwina Zielińska (AEGEE-Toruń), Mareike Wegener (AEGEE-Aachen/Köln), Melissa Carreres Candela (AEGEE-Alicante). Their term started on the 1st of December and they have already had a meeting in Brussels to discuss about their future plans. Let’s find out what they are preparing for the upcoming term!

The AEGEEan: Why did you apply to be NetCom?

Lavinia Ţole: After my term as a SubCom ended, I felt I have a pretty good understanding of AEGEE locals, how they work, what struggles they usually encounter, etc., and I wanted to contribute more to their development. In my opinion, AEGEE locals are the very heart of AEGEE and the Network Commission is the body that is always in touch with them, so it was a great opportunity to put into practice the skills and knowledge I earned being an active member for more than 3 years.

Lisa Gregis: I candidated as Network Commissioner because I always thought that it was the perfect job for me: helping the locals and having the chance to be close to their members have always given me the motivation to be a better person and a better AEGEE member. The Network Commission is a particular branch of AEGEE which requires a particular motivation because you have to serve and protect, and I had it.

Loes Rutten: When I joined AEGEE three years ago, I became active within my local, but because of my studies, I was not able to attend any statutory events or other events related to European projects. Last year I took the time to join more events connected to the European bodies. Moreover, I became CD assistant of Holger for Network development research, subcommissioner of Boudewijn and since summer, I have been a member of the ACT. During this year, I was truly inspired by other AEGEEans and I realised how our commitment allows us to contribute to democracy by supporting fair elections, by drafting EU recommendations, by sharing our knowledge, and by all the other things that AEGEE has achieved in the past 30 years. I would like to provide continuity to our Network by following the course that was set out by the current Network Commission, and also to bring in new ideas, together with a fresh team of NetComs. I am excited to be a communicative and cooperative member of the Network Commission, while providing motivation and support for the antennae I am responsible for.

Mareike Wegener: I love working with people, therefore I am really excited to get to know the boards and all the other AEGEEans in my Network better. I like the idea behind the Network Commission about sharing and caring, and I hope we will all have a creative time together by working on this. I talked to a lot of people about my decision to run for NetCommie, but first of all, it was my own idea because I felt it is the right moment for me to become NetCommie. NetCom Andrea and NetCom Assistant Julia pushed me a lot and supported me by answering all my questions, but my locals supported me as well. I had a lot of discussions about different topics concerning my candidature and I got a lot of feedback, positive and sometimes also negative, from friends from different locals. In the end, I think it was this huge amount of feedback that helped me run for NetCommie.

Melissa Carreres Candela: Even though networking was, in my opinion, one of the most attractive opportunities that AEGEE provides you, being part of Network Commission was never before in my plans. After finishing my term as a President in AEGEE-Alicante, I wanted to take a step forward in my AEGEE life, and then Pablo Hernández persuaded me to take this leap. Actually, without him maybe I would have never run to be a NetCom!

What was your first reaction when you heard that you got elected as NetCom?

Lavinia: I was super happy, but also a bit confused, not knowing exactly what do I have to do next, but we had 6 weeks of knowledge transfer. The team is open-minded and always ready to help, so now I feel much more confident.
Lisa: Since I am a very emotional person, I wanted it so much and I had to face a tough Agora, I cried for almost half an hour. I finally reached my goal to become a Network Commissioner, now I just have to work to achieve my dream to be a good NetCommie.

Mareike: I was sitting next to Damien who was elected as President of Mediation Commission just a few seconds before. I was so still, so excited to see his name on the screen that first of all I could not realise what I saw. It was so fast, just a few seconds. But then friends around me started to congratulate me and finally Andrea, the former NetCommie and my mentor, brought me back to reality.
But I think I only finally realised it, when we had the first meeting in the evening with new team and started to talk about knowledge transfer and network distribution. After 4 days of Agora, parties and not enough sleep, everyone was still highly motivated to work.

Melissa: When the results came out, I had to check more than twice that my name was among the first 6 ones, then lots of people came to congratulate me, and Pablo was among them. At that moment, I thought “I’m here because of you”!

What are your plans for the locals in your area?

Lavinia: Well, we have an integrated strategy for the whole Network: the ups and downs of AEGEE locals are more similar than you think. Nonetheless, I want to improve locals’ knowledge on Antenna Criteria, AEGEE’s projects and opportunities by sending monthly newsletters, and to organise hangout meetings. Furthermore, I want to encourage locals to collaborate and to organise exchanges or any other kind of international projects or gatherings.

Lisa: I would like to establish a good communication with them and to give them all the tools they need to carry out their daily activities. Furthermore, I would like to create new sharing moments between them in order to deepen their cooperation and motivation. Sharing best practices and non-formal education are for sure in my top 5 objectives.

Loes: Throughout my term, I want to promote active participation of AEGEEans in European bodies, to encourage knowledge transfer and sharing best practices between locals in the form of thematic hangouts. With Andry Gontsjarenko, we try to revive AEGEE-Den Haag and after I get to know all the locals that I am responsible for, I want to set up AEGEE-Wageningen. I will support the locals to carry out activities related to the Strategic Plan and Action Agenda. Since I’m also ACT-responsible for this area, I am able to provide them with an explanation of what the Action Agenda is, as well as with concrete ideas for activities. Lastly, I will encourage and support locals to organise thematic Summer Universities.

Mareike: I want to visit my locals, meet the boards and talk to them. Hopefully, I can start my first trip in January. I think we all deserve a few peaceful and quiet days during Christmas with our family and friends.

Melissa: I would like to focus especially on the collaboration between locals. As a President, I learnt a lot from members of different antennae. I really believe there is a lot of potential that is not used because the knowledge gets stuck. Sharing best practices, problems and solutions would help a lot to develop the Network. Like it is said, “Sharing is caring”.
I also want to guarantee a good communication between locals and NetCom. I already know most of the boards of my locals, so they can easily contact me and feel more confident. It is also important to have frequent contact with them in order to see how they are doing and how the problems are developing.
In my working plan, I want to help weak locals and teach them about antenna management, Antenna Criteria and European level.

Do you have a team of SubCommies? If so, who are they and what do they do?

Lavinia: I’ve just launched the Open Call, so there is no official SubCom yet, but I had some informal conversations and I am pretty excited about the next SubCom team.

Lisa: I don’t have it yet, but I will. I have launched an Open Call for SubCommissioners and I’m very looking forward to define my team. They will work with the locals and they will develop their own projects and ideas in collaboration with me and the locals.

Loes: I have no subcommies yet.

Melissa: Yes, I actually had my whole team before presenting my candidature in Agora Kyiv. When I decided to run for NetCom, I had some people in mind, and it was really nice to see they supported me and that they were willing to work with me. That supported my determination and gave me extra motivation to run for NetCom.
My subcommies will support me being in contact with all the antennae and helping solving problems and internal tensions. They will also help me to resolve doubts about Antenna Criteria and European level for every single local.

What are your plans for the NetCom team?

Lavinia: I am really proud of the working plan we put together during our NetCom meeting in Brussels. We have a lot of projects, but my personal favourite are Antenna Criteria for Dummies and Twinder, a form that helps antennae find their soulmate local.

Lisa: I will work on Network Meeting reform and sharing best practices in team with other NetCommies. I will also help my team mates whenever it’s needed!

Loes: I will contribute to the NetCom team by communication, cooperation, credibility, creativity and content! Also, I will provide cooperation between ACT and NetCom team.

Mareike: We have a super cool team of Network Commissioners and I am looking forward to getting to know them better and working with them in order to strengthen and develop our Network.

Melissa: In our NetCom Meeting which has recently taken place in Brussels, we drafted our Working Plan with lots of sexy ideas to improve and develop the Network. Every NetCom has to be involved in all projects and also manage some of them. I would be especially involved in two of them: firstly, in promoting our tool Twinder for creating twins and spreading the mentorship programme between weak and strong antennae, and secondly, I will manage the launch of a new monthly newsletter that would make the work of the NetCom more visible and would provide better communication of the news throughout the rest of the Network.

Malwina Zielińska was approached, but she never replied.

You can find Network Commission Working Plan for the current term (Agora Kyїv-Agora Bergamo) here.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

Philipp Blum (AEGEE-Aachen) is running for a place in the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT). He studies Computer Science and he is involved in PR since he joined AEGEE, so he decided to run for IT and Materials and Publications Responsible. Let’s find out more about who he is and his plans by asking him some questions.

The AEGEEan: Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you join AEGEE?
Philipp: Hello everyone, I am Philipp! I’m 24, doing my Master in Computer Science.

Two years ago, I moved to Aachen and wanted to get in touch with international people, and I found AEGEE. It all started with being a tutor for Erasmus students, but soon people convinced me I should become a board member. “It’s only updating Facebook”, they said… and so it began. I quickly figured out there is way more to AEGEE than just Erasmus, and there is way more to being a board member than just updating Facebook.

How do you think your local activity would help you in developing the tasks in the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT)?
As I became more active, AEGEE started taking more time than my studies. It’s on my mind all day, which might be unhealthy, but I guess that many people share this feeling. So I won’t only do the least work necessary, but do my work as good as I can with the time provided.

I also learned during my board time, that replying on time, immediately if possible solves many issues. And that overthinking is not the way to go, and I think my local activity has made me efficient.

Other than this, as I did countless PR materials for our local, both online and printed, I got experienced with it. I’m taking care of our website, in case that matters.

What is a Summer University (SU) to you? Why would you like to work on this project? Why did you apply exactly for SUCT and this particular position?
To me, Summer University as a participant is like a mini-Erasmus. Unknown destination, unknown people, and you have no idea what is going to happen and maybe you are scared too. But you come back, and you won’t believe what happened – people were nice to you, you made tons of new friends, and maybe even more.

As an organiser, it’s the event that makes people thank you. You see the fun they have, and they are thankful for the things you do and you actually have time to get to know your participants.

When I applied for my first SU, I saw that it’s quite hard to find a SU suitable for me. A year later, I figured that also as organiser it’s quite cumbersome sometimes, that’s why I want to work on this. I think web technologies are very advanced nowadays and should not restrict you to a computer anymore. Why not choose a SU while taking your bus to University?
I was doing promotion for AEGEE and Summer University… Without a map of the Summer Universities, because it arrived late. I’d like to make sure locals have proper materials, both for print and online, to promote SU’s.

Last, but certainly not least, my time in the local board is coming to and end, time for new people! I was working on the current Key to Europe, getting a sense of how work on the European level is like. And I liked it! I’m searching for new challenges, and SUCT fits right in.

Which was the best Summer University you organised and why?
I didn’t organise any. Last year, I spent exactly one day with participants; the day between my last exam and my flight to my own SU as a participant. This year, I supported the team, joined the SU whenever I could, but was again restricted due to exams.

You are running for a place in SUCT. Which are the qualities and experiences that recommend you for the position?
I can work a lot in a short time, if needed. Deadlines wake up my working power [he smiles, ed.] I love democracy, and asking everyone’s opinion, but I also can see the times when this is not feasible, and take decisions myself.

I’m doing PR for my local for two years now and am currently Creative Director of the Key to Europe. In this time I learnt a lot about online presence, especially the good and dark sides of Facebook and about printing and distribution of materials.

I study Computer Science, I am a freelance web developer for a few years, and a home-based CD assistant for websites. I’m pretty confident I know all the needed technologies for improving the SU website.

In your application, you mention that you would like to have everyone able to access the materials, as well as having them printed on time. How are you planning to implement this?
I’ll research printing companies and ways of distribution way before deadline, and get approval of the budget. I also want to make sure the deadline is known to all SUCT members and SU responsibles, and whoever is too late will not be on the beautiful map.

For the online materials, they can be created way before any SU promotion starts, so there is time for locals to use them. Also, while I love illustrator and vector files, I know many locals don’t have any knowledge about these. I would (it hurts me a bit, but okay) provide them with materials they can edit, based on their software and knowledge. Might it be Google presentation templates, a powerpoint file, or a fully blown vector file.

Also, maybe a guide on how to use the files is handy. And if a local really cannot do it, I would help locals editing files. It would take me a few minutes, and I think make everyone happier.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Sofia/Thessaloniki

You can read his full candidature here.