The digital gender divide will not close by itself: we must act in order to make the digital revolution for all, with all, by all.

Societies are becoming increasingly digital. Over 90% of jobs worldwide have a digital component, which has made it essential for people to have digital literacy skills in order to engage with, and function and participate fully in a digital world. Regrettably there exists inequality in access to technology and digital training. Girls and women are limited in their usage and adoption of technology, their ownership of digital devices and ability to make meaningful use of access to technology. Globally, they use the Internet 12.5% less compared to men and boys. These disparities limit women’s and girls’ opportunities in the digital world.

This technology gap is referred to as the gender digital divide, and has been growing from 11% to 17% from 2013 to 2019 and continues to expand in many developing countries. It will not close by itself, we must act in order to close it. If we do not try and ensure that women and girls have equal access to digital tools and teach them how to use them, we will not only hamper the development of economies, but we will further perpetuate gender inequality in many other areas including financial inclusion and inclusion in the labour markets. It will essentially lead us further away from achieving the United Nations Sustainable Goals (SDGs).

That is why it is essential to ensure that young people can take an active role in society and be provided the same opportunities regardless of their gender. Teaching girls and women on digital literacy can empower them and offer them the opportunity to overcome hurdles in the physical world, including those they face in employment and the workforce.

Our Contribution

The gender digital divide is real – and it spans from access and to and usage of the Internet to digital jobs and skills. This inequality and exclusion gap is visible all over the world and across generations. To make the digital revolution for all, with all, by all, we must address gender inequality as a whole. Exactly for this reason AEGEE-Europe and the Plan International EU Office worked together on a human library to show and address the digital gender divide and how this further perpetuates gender inequality, in line with the theme of the International Day of the Girl 2021.

A human library is an activity based on a project that started in Denmark in 2000. It uses the analogy of a library where instead of books, there are people (“human books”) and participants, instead of reading stories, listening to them. These people have “experienced prejudice, social exclusion or stigma, or are leaders and drivers of change in their community”. The participants have a chance to listen to their story and ask questions so as to “learn about the other person and also challenge their own prejudices”.

Our joint newsletter will offer the chance to learn more about the human library and hear about the stories that were shared there.

EPSO’s grassroot project to publicise careers at the European Institutions is the EU Careers Student Ambassadors Programme. Launched in 2010, it allows enthusiastic students from the EU’s most prestigious universities all over the Member States to become EPSO’s Ambassadors on their campuses.

To become ambassadors, the most motivated students from all over the EU go through a training session that takes place mainly in Brussels, but also in other European cities. During this training, students learn all they need to know to successfully carry out their job for the following season.

The project has consistently grown since its launch in 2010, when there were only 23 Ambassadors in 23 universities. Today, for the 2017/2018 season, EPSO’s fleet consists of 120 Ambassadors from 111 universities! The constant growth of students has continuously increased the number of people reached throughout the EU.

Becoming an EU Career Ambassador means being EPSO’s point of reference in every member state. In order to successfully reach out to students, Ambassadors perform various activities to promote Careers, such as organising presentations, conferences and one-on-one chats with students, managing the local EU Careers social media pages, and responding to all the queries related to the EU or to a career in it. In 2016, Ambassadors organised 817 events in 28 countries, reaching out to more than 85,000 students!

The whole experience is professionally enriching for the students and looks especially good for employers, as it greatly improves several transferable skills such as communication, inter-personal and public speaking skills, not to mention the rich network that participants will develop by the end of the academic year. In a nutshell, being an EU Student Ambassador is a great experience!

If you would like to find out more about the programme, just visit the website.

Looking for accommodation in a new city is not easy. Well, it wasn’t, until now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-FfDqC2tog

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Dear reader, I’m Alejandra, member of AEGEE since four years ago and, currently, one of the members from the pool of representatives of AEGEE-Europe. Between the 10th and 14 of October, I’ve attended the General Assembly of IFMSA- Spain (International Federation of Medical Students Associations).  For me, having the opportunity to be there, participate and give everything I could to this event was a big pleasure. Now, I have this report so you can check how the event went and possible future cooperations. Thank you for this opportunity!

The event was the National Meeting (General Assembly) of IFMSA-Spain. There were parallel agendas about different topics that they have been working on during the whole year, apart from the agenda for presidents and for the exchanges responsible. Plenaries happened in order to vote motions, candidates, etc, and there were also trainings.

During the whole event, I was switching between mostly two agendas, one about human rights and the other about sexual health. The sessions were really interesting and I found many topics in which AEGEE and IFMSA can collaborate contributing with different perspectives on the same topic. I have also attended one session for presidents to know how they organise it. Apart from that, I was attending all the plenaries, and during the first plenary I held a presentation to introduce AEGEE.

Moreover, there were also training: I delivered one about how to include your association in your CV. During the whole event, I was talking with many people explaining about AEGEE and the different projects, apart from asking about the functioning of IFMSA-Spain to get more information about it. I also had the opportunity to meet the president of IFMSA International, a representative from the CEEM (Consejo Estatal de Estudiantes de Medicina) and a representative from AECS (Associació d’Estudiants de Ciències de la Salut).

The programme was a mix between bureaucratic procedures and trainings. There were six different agendas, four of them about their different working groups and with thematic sessions, one other related to their exchanges and the last one for presidents. The representatives of each local committee had to attend the one for presidents and the ones in charge of the exchanges in their local had to attend the one about exchanges. The rest of participants could switch from one to another, even if most of them tried to focus in just one. Everyday after lunch  there was the local hour, were each local committee was reunited to discuss everything to vote later in the plenaries. On Wednesday and Thursday there were trainings, three at the same time on Wednesday and two on Thursday. Anyone could choose the one that they liked the most. As feminism was a topic for this GA, there was a session about this, parallel to the trainings. Of course, plenaries were there, in order to vote motions, present candidates, vote them, etc.

As for my impressions about this event, first of all I love the idea of having different agendas. It has a really big potential so anyone can choose in which they would like to participate. This could be also implemented in our Agora, as we have parallel workshops for the visitors and we can implement this procedure and maybe improve the attendance rate of visitors. This kind of structure of course can be implemented in any other events, and we could organise thematic events with this structure, so the funding should be easier, more people with different interests would attend it, and we could have a bigger impact.

Regarding the cooperation, the different local committees can cooperate with our antennae. Right now I just have contacts in Spain, but, from here, I can work to get more from other countries in order to implement the collaboration. Also, with IFMSA International, we can talk and give them some spot in the Agora and some space. We can start with IFMSA Spain, but we can also look further and try to get this cooperation. They are medical students, so a full collaboration is difficult but still, we are fighting for the same ideals and rights, even if we look through them from different perspectives. So, at the end, we can collaborate in this topics that we have in common. I’m starting to test this local collaboration unofficially with the Local committee in Santiago with AEGEE-A Coruña and AEGEE-Vigo, and my idea is to invite two of them to our LTC.

The event opened my mind a lot. I could observe that we can improve a lot how we organise some events to give space to everyone. Everyone here was so attentive, and asking me about how my experience was going, taking the time to explain me something everytime I didn’t understand. It was a totally repeatable experience. To conclude, we should continue with this collaboration, as we can learn a lot from each other. And try to have this collaboration on the European and local level.

Written by Alejandra Piot Pérez-Abadín, Network Commission

In times that are not financially easy, travelling seems to be a luxury, but do not forget that even a small trip helps to shake off the burden of problems and gain new strength. There are many tricks which might help to plan a cheap trip. Since most of AEGEEans are students on a budget, we would like to post about opportunities for travelling cheap.

Plan your trip in advance

It’s better to plan the budget costs on a maximum depending on features of each concrete trip: logistics (including rent of the car, tickets for trains, etc.), accommodation and the minimum programme (exhibitions, restaurants, concerts and shopping trips). This may sound obvious but a lot of people forget about logistics and spend more than they expected. Thus, check out ways and compare prices to get to the city from the airport before your trip. In many EU-cities you can walk to the city centre from the central station, so it would be clever to check out the distance beforehand and save some money and time instead of waiting for a bus. The Internet is ready to suggest the average cost of living in a particular city.

Getting there

Most likely, the highest expenditure for you will be a flight. It is better not to delay buying air tickets: the earlier you buy them, the cheaper they will cost.
Buy tickets for the plane using airfare search sites like Aviasales, Skyscanner, Anywayanyday, Momondo, Kayak and low-cost like Lastminute. Don’t forget to clear your browser’s cache before every new search: the cookies store information you were looking before and suggest new options depending on what you’ve already seen. If you always start from scratch, they will not offer you more expensive options. Choose off-season flights, so that they will cost even less. Keep in mind that the fare recalculation occurs on Monday, and if you find a good ticket, you have time until Tuesday to buy it at the current price. Some airlines like AirBaltic offer to pay separately for everything: luggage, registration at the airport, your preferred seat and meals on board. If you can put everything in your hand luggage and survive three hours without a cold sandwich – why pay for it?

For trains you might check out Raileurope and Rome2rio, for busses – Flixbus or Fernbus. You can try “planned hitchhiking” by using Bla bla car services, which offer to become a fellow traveller. All operations and payment pass through the company’s website. It is worthwhile to focus on the feedback of grateful (or not) customers, and if there is no doubt, then the trip will hardly be different from calling Uber.

Or actually try hitchhiking! If it is your first time, consider travelling with someone who is experienced in it. You should also read hitchhike forums about destination you want to go to get some tips and visit Hitchwiki.

Accommodation

Staydu or Couchsurfing are great websites where you can find a place to stay and meet wonderful people all over the world. You don’t have to pay for you stay, but it will be nice if you bring something to your host or share some knowledge like showing your cooking skills or having a language exchange. With Couchsurfing you can also find meetups or people who would like to hang out close to you. If you are a girl travelling alone, who has heard a lot of bad things about Couchsurfing, find a travel mate or a host in Facebook GoWonder®  – Women Travel. You might also try Hospitalityclub, which is a worldwide network of open doors where you can also find a place to stay for free.

In Airbnb you can find a cheap room or a bed in someone else’s house. If not, try LateRooms or Hoteltonight, the last one is a perfect app for spontaneous booking: the closer is your booking date, the cheaper you will book your room. Check out Hostelworld – don’t be afraid to live in a hostel, it is another awesome way to make new international friends.

If you prefer to be all alone and have no money for a hotel, you might also try to rent a car for travelling and sleeping in it, check out Autoeurope.

Since it is not always easy to find a place for the night through Couchsurfing or other sites like that, one must be prepared for sleeping in a tent. Although in many cities there are not many suitable places to break a tent, if you look carefully, you can always find a loophole. You can, for example, take shelter in the backyard of the church (people who come to visit such places are more tolerant and kind), in a small garden with a lot of trees and bushes. Keep in mind that you do not need a large space to sleep, the area of 2mx1m will be quite enough.

Entertainment

Sites around the world suggest many free events and cheap places to visit with comments from other travellers: starting with the Stay and ending with tourist portals like TripAdvisor. Before the trip it is worth to dig on Yelp, Like a Local Guide or TimeOut and see what interesting and budget places there are in the city. Do not forget about Neweuropetours – free walking tours in the EU.

When it comes to museums, concerts, exhibitions, markets and so on, always try to buy tickets in advance. Also in many countries there is a day of free access to all major museums – at such a date it is quite possible to adjust the trip.

Most importantly, if the budget is small, do not put off the issue of entertainment until the last, when you stand on the street and do not know where to go and what to eat. If you pre-marked on an offline map of the city a dozen of liked places, the problem will disappear by itself.

Long-term travelling opportunities

Become a volunteer in an organic farm. Organic farmers are usually limited in the means to hire professional workers, and as a result, some of them are looking for volunteers. You will not receive a salary, but at least you will have a place to stay at the destination. Many of the owners will even provide you with food. The largest and most used by the volunteers organisation is WWOOF or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, but this organisation will require you to pay a small fee for joining. For completely free options it will be necessary to comb ads and free forums.

If you are a student, keep an eye for exchange programmes at your university or trainings abroad like ASEF or Council of Europe, which not only cover the travel or accommodation costs but also educate you and give new friends and experiences. You will need a strong motivation and relevant experiences (e.g. organising a Summer University or active membership in the Civic Education Working Group) for this.

Another great way to learn something new is work & travel. Workaway or helpx will help you to find a host, where you get food and accommodation for working four to five hours a day and sometimes even pocket money. Those jobs are usually like babysitting, cleaning or helping with building a house, so you will not only see a country as a local and learn stuff like building a greenhouse, but also improve your language skills. Why pay for a boring language course and a hotel, if you can live in Spain helping someone around?

All this is extremely profitable, but for such a holiday you need to understand precisely that all your “deprivations” are not deprivations at all, but the result of a conscious choice, and consider those restrictions as an exciting quest.

Extra tips for any travelling

• Learn 50-100 of the necessary words of the country’s language before leaving. It’s easier to find out the prices and you won’t be so hesitant to bargain, when you have a small vocabulary. Also locals will react friendlier and maybe even feed you and offer to host you, which happens a lot in Asia.
• Eat where locals eat. The food is more delicious and cheaper there, plus you will feel the city and meet new local friends. 
• Travelling does not only mean taking selfies with some nice architecture. It also means meeting locals or other expats. Improve your social skills – do not be afraid of talking to new people in hostels, museums or on the street. You might use apps like Couchsurfing, Meetup, Facebook ( e.g. groups Munich or Lisbon international friends) or even Tinder for those purposes.

Any other ideas how to discover our big world on a budget? Share in comments!

Written by Aliona Sytnyk, AEGEE-Berlin

Sources:
http://www.wikihow.com/Travel-on-a-Budget 

http://www.wonderzine.com/wonderzine/life/travel/215847-travel-cheaper-travel-more

Picture:

http://blog.kemwel.com/vacation-plans/economical-vacation-destinations-for-travel-on-a-budget

During EPM Zagreb, the Civic Education Working Group organised a debate competition, which prize was an Interrail Pass. Domen Brus from AEGEE-Osnabrück was the winner, and he wrote this report of his interesting journey for The AEGEEan.

I started my journey in Ljubljana where I boarded the train headed for Frankfurt, final destination of the day being Konstanz. On the platform, I ran into an old friend of mine who was taking the same train so I was in for a fun drive. However, at that point I had no idea about the “real Deutsche Bahn experience” that was about to follow.

First, we stopped somewhere just across the German border as there was some accident on the tracks. Waiting time: two and a half hours. Luckily such accidents really connect people, so I got to know many nice people and actually had a great time waiting. Fast forward to a couple of hours later, the train stops at Augsburg train station. The board next to the train reads: Delay of 170 min. As I thought things couldn’t get worse the sign changed to: The train is cancelled. So, I boarded a new train and continued my way towards Konstanz. I miraculously caught a connection on the wrong side of Lake Constance and I thought I would actually make it there. As soon as this thought went through my mind the lights flashed and went dark, the train stopped in the middle of a field with a creaking noise and the emergency lights came on. At that moment, it also started to rain. It was already midnight. I knew that if we wouldn’t start moving in exactly eight minutes, then I would miss my last connection and be stranded in a village in the middle of nowhere. Two hours later we were still there. Due to some regulation, they couldn’t let us off the train but sadly they had no actual updates regarding our trip. Finally, a new train arrived and took us to the next station, where a friend of mine awaited me and the first day of travelling thankfully finished.

I spent the next four days in Konstanz. We planned to enjoy the lake, do some kayaking etc. I somehow forgot it’s Germany that I’m talking about so naturally it was more or less raining for four days. Nevertheless, we had a great time. We explored the city and its surroundings and also made some cycling trips to Switzerland. On Monday morning I took the train to Berlin. Due to the experience of the first day I was really paranoid but the trip was actually very enjoyable. I stayed in Berlin until Friday. I was visiting a friend who also lent me her bicycle. I think I made about 150 km in those three days. I was really lucky with the weather so I was able to explore the streets and parks of Berlin thoroughly. I found awesome beach bars, rooftop parties, open air cinemas, dusty record shops, cheap awesome food, cool graffiti and intriguing small galleries. Those few days really reminded me why I fell in love with the city many years ago. I was actually really sad to leave on Friday morning but new adventures awaited me!

It was then that my first class Interrail ticket came in most handy. I took the train to Osnabrück that continued to Amsterdam. When I arrived on the platform there were about 600 young people waiting for the train and for a second I thought I’d have a problem. Well, there were almost no people in the first class and you also get Haribos! I made it to Osnabrück, the best city in the world, just in time to join the local antenna for the canoeing trip. It was really great to see the familiar faces of my old antenna. The canoeing was also just as I remembered it – very rainy but still awesome! Someone mentioned that Osnabrück was the rainiest city in Germany – definitely not something that I knew when choosing my Erasmus destination! After the canoeing, we enjoyed a nice barbecue in front of the city castle and then toured the city till late hours. Next day I first went to the non-existent city of Bielefeld to meet a friend and then finished the day in Verden, a small town close to Bremen where I stayed with a fellow AEGEE friend for a couple of days. Of course, there were again delays and cancellations so yet again I spent many, many hours waiting aimlessly. I used that time mostly for relaxation and to plan my next trip. My original plan was to spend that weekend in Hamburg which turned out to be a horrible idea due to all the craziness that surrounded the G20 meeting. After a few days, I decided to go to Sweden, to Uppsala. When I checked the connection, I saw that I had to change five times and that it would take 14 hours to get there if it all went according to the plan. Since I’m not a smart man I decided to take my chances.

All went surprisingly smooth up until the very end, I was even pleasantly surprised by our whole train taking a ferry. I was asleep at the time so I was quite confused when I woke up inside a ship. I was almost in Stockholm, when there was another “incident” on the tracks so yet again we had to wait for an unknown amount of time. I somehow made to Uppsala by 1:30am, when the night was almost ending since it’s so far up north. The train drive across Sweden was absolutely breath-taking. There are hundreds of little lakes, vast forests and beautiful solitary farms on the grassy fields. The next days I spent too much on bad coffee and overpriced beer. Jokes aside, it was a really nice experience to see a small Swedish student city and the friend whom I was visiting proved to be quite a good city guide.

Only after two days I had to leave again. I travelled to Hamburg to see what the riots did to my beloved Schanzenviertel. To my surprise and amazement there were almost no more traces of the chaos that went on just a few days before. I had a great dinner and too many beers with an Italian friend that I was visiting so I took the morning train almost directly. Not a good idea, I really do not recommend this. I was supposed to be home in 12 hours but by that time I should’ve known better. After many hours of confusion and chaos I made it to München where I took the bus to Ljubljana, since there were no more trains for the day. It was 2pm. After getting home I slept for about two days to recover a bit and set my head straight.

Despite being really unlucky with the trains I really had an amazing time. I saw many people that I hadn’t seen for a really long time, explored many new places, met great new people and generally gained a lot of valuable experience. The only thing I regret is not making my trip longer and seeing even more things.

Written by Domen Brus, AEGEE-Osnabrück

“Freedom is such a high value that you only feel it, once you don’t have it…”

Does the state determine my freedom? How are people in Europe affected by state limitation? Isn’t freedom self-evident in a (European) democracy? Can Europeans take freedom for granted? Can a state deny me my fundamental rights? What happens when laws do exist on paper, but you cannot rely on them in practice? How does democracy react to such a challenge? What can a single person do? What is my duty as a citizen?

These questions bounce around my head since when I’ve followed a vivid discussion on the “Challenges to the Rule of Law in Europe”. It was organised by European Movement International (EMI), which is a network of European organisations and aims at involving the civil society in discussions on political questions. AEGEE-Europe is one of its 80 member organisations and you can read their position on the Rule of Law in Europe. The event hosted Péter Niedermüller (Hungarian Member of European Parliament), Urmas Reinsalu (Estonian Minister of Justice), Philippe Dam (Human Rights Watch) and Kai Härmand (Ministry of Justice of Estonia) at the European Parliament in Brussels (read the event report here).

Why so many Estonians?

Every six month a different member state takes over the presidency of the Council of the EU (Council of Ministers). The country can use its presidential role to bring certain prioritised topics to the political agenda. From July to December 2017 it’s Estonia’s turn!

The rule of law is a fundamental principle of every democracy and safeguards the freedom of its citizens. It ensures that laws are placed above individual opinions or the government and people, for example minorities or the opposition, can call on their lawful rights. Lately this common European understanding has been defied by member states of the EU. The “naming & shaming” of these countries from an outside perspective (as it has been happening) is no effective tool to achieve political changes nor does it help the offended ones. Kai Härmand compared it to a little child who would only continue to disrespect the rules more eagerly. Instead, people need to take a stand against these offenses.

“If you are lazy in protecting freedom you have to pay the price for it”, Urmas Reinsalu said. “The rule of law is not only the responsibility of the state, but also of its citizens.” Have we been too lazy? People went to the streets to raise their voices and speak up against restrictions in their choices of education. But what if these voices are not heard, because “the rule of law is a question of political will”, as Philippe Dam put it? Elected governments might be against the contribution of society and its organisations, e.g. NGOs, to their decision making.

Which role do I play as a European citizen in this critical situation? It must be a quite important one. Civil society is made up by individuals, who gather in groups of shared interests. They are the watchdog of their elected representatives. They need to make sure those politicians do not question such basic democratic concepts as the rule of law. By getting loud, by acting confidently and promoting solidarity for each other. By gaining freedom through fulfilling a citizen’s duty.

To guarantee the Rule of Law in Europe we need citizens that speak up and governments that listen! After all: “The values of who we are, who we want to be as humans, make up Europe”.

Are you interested in the topic of European Citizenship? – Send an e-mail to ecwg@aegee.org

Written by Jasmin Kaiser, AEGEE-Passau

The Charlemagne Youth Prize is one of the most prestigious European Prizes. It has been awarded annually since 1950 by the city οf Aachen, Germany, to people who contributed to the ideals upon which it has been founded. It commemorates Charlemagne, ruler of the Frankish Empire, who resided and is buried in Aachen. Traditionally the award is given to the recipient on Ascension Day in a ceremony in the town hall of Aachen. In April 2008, the organisers of the Charlemagne Prize and the European Parliament jointly created a new European Charlemagne Youth Prize, which recognises contributions by young people towards the process of European integration.

This year AEGEE has the honour to have not one, but two projects that won the national round in Romania and Slovakia, respectively: “Faces of Europe” and “Summer University”.

Faces of Europe is a photo blog launched by Your Vision for EUrope, a project of AEGEE-Europe. Inspired by the famous Humans of New York, the photoblog aims at making Europe more personal and exploring the human diversity of our continent. They want to collect and spread the faces and voices of people from different social, cultural and national backgrounds.

The first edition of Faces of Europe, running from January until June 2016, was already a success. In the first edition, the team consisted of 16 committed reporters from seven different nationalities. As a result of their works, they published more than 100 stories of many Europeans on Facebook, collected more than 2,500 likes and many messages of support and positive feedbacks from readers. The second edition is currently ongoing.

Summer University, one of the most successful, if not the most successful, project of AEGEE, has proven its value to all of us through the years. The Summer University is an event that takes place in the summer between two to four weeks. Usually, 20 to 50 participants are hosted in different parts of Europe, and they have the chance to learn by travelling, meeting new people, integrating with the culture of their hosting country and as a result they broaden horizons.
Specifically, in 2016 it gave the opportunity to over 4000 Europeans to see different parts of the continent, meet other youngsters and learn new skills and abilities together. Since 1988 more than 100,000 people participated in Summer Universities, which took place in over 260 cities in more than 40 European countries, making it the biggest volunteer-based mobility project in Europe.

In 2013, Europe On Track, another project, which was inspired by the current president of AEGEE-Europe, Reka Salamon, was awarded with the Charlemagne Youth Prize.

This month, from the 22^nd to the 24^th of May, the Charlemagne Youth Prize Winners’ ceremony will be held in Aachen. AEGEE will participate with these two nominations that were received from Romania and Slovakia. Due to the fact that AEGEE has already been a laureate in the past, apart from the winner projects, the CD also received some invitations. So our association will have represantitives who will attend several events, including the Youth Prize Award Ceremony, which always takes place two days before the Ascension Day, the day on which the prestigious International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen is awarded.

Written by Vasiliki Andrioti, AEGEE-Ioannina

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne_Prize

https://www.projects.aegee.org/suct/su2017/cyp2017.php

http://www.zeus.aegee.org/portal/

People have been protesting against the government in Serbia for more than two week now, but there is not much to talk about this in the media, not even in Serbia.

Thousands of young people, students and other citizens of Serbia have been walking on the streets of cities to protest against the government and the recently elected president Aleksandar Vučić. The elections were held on Sunday, the 2nd of April when Vučić has won 55% of the votes. The protesters say the election have been “undemocratic”.

In the night after the elections, a Facebook event called “Protest against the dictatorship” was created. It was not sure how many people would show up, but during the first days, there were hundreds of people, not only in Belgrade but also in the other cities like Novi Sad, Niš, Kraljevo and more. The protests are not led by any political party and they continued to be held every day at 6 pm, with thousands of people joining.

Some of the protestors said “You are not my president”, “We do not want a dictatorship, we want democracy”, “Against the system”, as well as many others criticising the media and the presidential campaign of Aleksandar Vučić.

Nikola Jekić, from AEGEE-Novi Sad, says that he is happy to see so many young people are actively participating in the protests: “They are full of enthusiasm and they want to make things better.  Most importantly – we do not want any kind of violence. Similar public gatherings were also held in the previous years, but this time it became just too massive for the government to ignore us.”.

On Saturday 8th of April, the biggest protest so far was held – with thousands of people on the streets of Belgrade. This time, the protest was supported by the syndicates of the police and the army of Serbia because of, as they say, “unsatisfying condition of the security sector and the conditions in the society”.

Isidora Braljinac, a member of AEGEE-Belgrade, told us about the huge response of people to that protest: “The number of people is reaching several thousand per day, but that one reached more than 60.000, which was reported by very few TV stations and newspaper.”. She also says that the youth of Serbia is not happy because of the fact that their homeland is being destroyed in many ways, which is why they are almost forced to go to other countries to look for a better future: “Government, media and many other institutions are ignoring us more than ever. If they say something, they say that we are hooligans, drug users, alcoholics and that we “probably have too much free time”. It is not about spending free time on the streets, while it is raining, it is about freedom.”.

For years now, one of the problems in Serbia has been the censorship of the media. During the presidential elections, almost every newspaper printed the logo of Aleksandar Vučić on their front page on the last day of the elections.  The problem is culminating since the citizens are protesting because of this. The public service broadcasters  – RTS (Radio-television of Serbia) and RTV (Radio-television of Vojvodina) are not reporting anything about the protests. They are giving partial information or no information at all.

Danilo Đalović from AEGEE-Niš, says that there is the same problem with the media on the local level: A few local media from Niš are reporting about the protests, and the TV-stations only mention it occasionally, but they are all under the control of the ruling party.”. He also adds that he thinks young people in his city find this very important: “They do not want to give up because this is actually a fight for freedom and democracy, a fight for the freedom of opinion, speech and basic human rights. The young people should not have to leave their country to have a better life, they want to change the current state of things and to create a better future for themselves.”.

Some of the requirements of the protestors are: abolition of the dictatorship and resignations of the political elite together with Aleksandar Vučić, resignations of members of REM (Regulatory authority for electronic media), RIK (Republic electoral commission), the head of RTS (Radio-television of Serbia) and the president of National Assembly of Serbia.

Pictures: Point of view by Lilit

Written by Gordana Tosic, AEGEE-Novi Sad

Everything starts in Chisinau, Moldova when I won another Interrail Pass thanks to the AEGEE Lottery. Another, because AEGEE had given me one just a few months before the first Interrail Pass for my SUCT trip. Surprised, lucky and happy I came back to Italy dreaming about my future adventure. 

I checked the map of Europe, and I started to plan which countries to discover this time. 

Before I die, I want to visit all countries of Europe, so the choice was a bit hard. However, in the end, the winners were Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Poland. 

The problem was my availability to travel a lot. I spent around Europe all my free days between exams and university courses. 12 days in total, deeply lived. 

My first stop was Berlin. Colourful, extravagant, free and determined.

A city that knows how to tell stories, its history and the history of those who lived there.

No art museums for me, but a route through historical monuments, to retrace the history that for years I had only read on school books. I felt deeply guilty reading on the walls how much cruelty the human being has been able to show. 

After Berlin I went to the Czech Republic, visiting the charming atmosphere of Praha. There is a mysterious air around the Czech capital; too much touristy for me, but wonderful. I saw Praha and its Charles Bridge for the first time in the music video “Numb” of Linkin Park, and since 2003 it has been my desire, finally fulfilled, to walk on that bridge.

The reason why I decided to visit Brno is called Giulia: my amazing AEGEE friend, Agora mate and sweet lady. It was a pleasure to spend some hours with her and her beautiful smile, telling stories and remembering all past moments spent together. A night city tour, a beer, a dinner with her, and the following day I was directed to Austria.

Vienna. In my mind, there is a fixed image when thinking about Vienna: a very small Irish pub, full of objects everywhere. The owner told me: souvenirs gifted by customers. There was a guy singing and playing guitar in the pub, and the music component convinced me to enter in that strange place that night. Listening to music and drinking beer, I do not know why I started to write words, then thoughts, in Italian and in English. It was a great and peaceful moment for me. I did not feel lost in the world, but cosy in a place that hugs you with its atmosphere.

I was curious to visit Bratislava, so during my stay in Vienna one morning I took the train and in one hour another country was ready for me. I really enjoyed the old part of the city and the food. Yes, because in every city I have visited, I tried to taste all typical plates: Brezel, Spätzle, Weißwurst and Currywurst in Berlin; Czech Goulash, Dumplings and Trdlo in Praha, Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna; Gulášová polievka and Bryndzové halušky in Bratislava and beer, litres of beer everywhere. Souvenirs from Slovakia: pictures, magnets and my personal bottle of Tatratea!

It had been easy to reach all cities until that moment. It was complicated to understand how to go to Poland from Czechia. I spent hours with a headache analysing the best solution without too many changes and “x” hours of duration. That is why I decided to say “Hello” to my Sardinian friends in Ostrava … and of course drink mirto with them.

I felt really lost outside the railway station of Warszawa. I did not expect a city that big. I spent one hour trying to find out the right way to reach my hostel, but just one hour later, I felt super happy eating a wonderful and delicious plate of pierogi. The day after I had just some hours before my flight to Italy to discover the Polish capital. In Stare Miasto, I met a free city tour in Spanish and I joined the group, and it was very interesting. A funny guide told us history, curiosities, legends about the old place, and thanks to him I had the chance to taste another typical food: Placki ziemniaczane.

The end of a journey is always sad. Saying “Goodbye” to friends, places, feelings… and I am asking myself if I left a part of me there or if I returned home with something more.

“Travelling through stories centuries-old, and in touch with my young sense of survival”

This was for me, my Interrail trip.

Written by Carolina Alfano, AEGEE-Salerno and AEGEE-Verona