With only a few weeks left, European Planning Meeting (EPM) Zagreb is approaching. The conferences and workshops about this year’s topic: Europe under Siege – Populism and Anti-European Agitation. What we will see is the result of the work of two AEGEE members: Eirini Kyriakidi (AEGEE-Athina) and Florian Hauger (AEGEE-Heidelberg). The EPM content managers are working together with the Comité Directeur and local organisers since last November and they will give us a small preview of what participants should expect. 

The AEGEEan: Present yourself.

Eyrin and Florian: Hey, we are Eyrin from AEGEE-Athina and Florian from AEGEE-Heidelberg, as your Content Managers. We are responsible for EPM Zagreb’s thematic conference “Populism and Anti-European Agitation”. Both of us are political science students, local board members and incredibly AEGEE-addicted… oh, and we figured out that the EPM preparation turned us into an old couple. [They smile, ed.]

 
Why did you decide to apply as the content manager of EPM?

Florian: Developing a strategy of how to react on anti-European populism has been one of my best projects since I joined AEGEE in spring 2015. It is an important issue we need to talk about. This is why I decided to propose it as an EPM topic and apply as the content manager.

Eyrin: I wanted to be more active on the European level of AEGEE. Later, the open call for the Content Managers of EPM was announced and I knew I had to apply as soon as I saw the topic! It is an issue that is all around us, not a simple policy on a few papers.

 
What are your previous experience in Populism and the topic of EPM in general?

Florian: Populism and Anti-European Agitation affects both my studies and my work as a parliament employee. I did some research and read quite a lot political science literature on populism. Understanding dynamics and organisation of populist parties or movements is both incredibly interesting and frightening.

Eyrin: I am currently in my last semester of Political Science and International Relations. Therefore, Populism and Anti-European Agitation are more or less part of my everyday life, since I always end up studying about this topic or reading something relevant.

Can you give us a sneak peek of how the content will be? In what will you focus more?

Since Populism and anti-European agitation are deeply interconnected, we couldn’t possibly think of them separating from each other when it came to speakers and workshops. However, our intention is to present many points of view for the same issues, so one could say that we are focusing on the pluralism of opinions.

 
Who are going to be external speakers? What will be more or less the content of workshops?

We are very happy to confirm the engagement of Claudia Chwalisz of Populus UK, LEAP-President Marie-Hélèn Caillol, Gordan Bosanac from the Centre for Peace Studies and Marko Grdosic from the Advisory Council of the Council of Europe. Most of our upcoming workshops proceed to populist mindsets and intentions while others focus further on their strategies, tools and actions.

 
How did you decide to develop the topic? From which perspective will you treat it?

Since the chosen topic is highly controversial, it is absolutely crucial to start with an academic introduction. Lectures and panel discussions will cast light on this subject from diverse points of view.  However, since we both have a political science background, we have already taken into consideration the diversity within AEGEE. So there is no need to be afraid that it will become too much of a lecture! We can actually promise to keep it interesting and engaging for every single one of the participants.

 
How are you connecting the topic with the strategic plan?

Our task is to issue the topic of populism and Euroscepticism and discuss strategies of how to react to its latest developments. The audience will decide if this is put it into action. If you ask us, the new focus areas European Citizenship, Equal Rights, Youth Development and Civic Education could match quite well with topic-related objectives.

 
Who is the CD appointed member?

Maarten de Groot. He is doing a great job and we are incredibly grateful for his support. Thank you, Maarten! You rock! We would also like to thank Viola, who was appointed as a Content Manager at the beginning but had to resign for personal reasons. Thank you for your hard work!

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Participants of EPM Leiden were chosen and the hype now is high. We asked some questions to the three lovely ladies chosen to be content managers this year, namely Romy Cartiere (AEGEE-Amsterdam, also the proposer), Daniela Poddesu (AEGEE-Cagliari) and Joanna Pankowska (AEGEE-Warszawa and AEGEE-Toruń). Together with them, in the preparation, also Communication Director Anna Gumbau.

 
The AEGEEan: You went to the CD house last month to organise the EPM. How did the meeting go?

Daniela: Yes, EPM Content Managers met in the CD house between 15th-17th December. The meeting went very well. We met each other for the first time in person, but our previuos skype meetings contributed to put us in the right working mood.

The meeting was really productive. At first, we started from different points of view. We have different backgrounds and this could have been a source of conflict, but we managed to combine them and draft a plan by which all our expectations were taken into account. Working together at the AEGEE house was great. It made us feel at home and Anna was really kind and helpful. All the other residents of the house were always really kind and friendly with “content manager bosses” as we use to refer to ourselves.

Just another last, but not least thing, during our meeting we had a soundtrack which was a kind of obsession. When someone didn’t understand something, to have an explanation, he has to sing “What do you mean?” as Justin Bieber does. This was a little bit weird because I really don’t like Justin Bieber, but I can’t imagine a content manager bosses’ conversation without his contribution!

Romy: It went very well. Although we had different ideas about the programme at first, we were able to compromise quickly and meet some important deadlines. I can’t wait for the next get-together!

Can you give us a sneak peak of how the content will be? In what will you focus more?
Daniela: For the content part, we chose to focus on future, possibilities and solutions instead of actual situation, problems and fears. So the main idea is to realise an EPM where the network could think mainly on how to come up from the current situation and on the possible ways to contribute as a European student network to improve the situation looking forward to solutions and initiatives.

 
Often it is lamented that the topic of EPM is not related to Strategic Plan. Are you planning to connect it more?
Joanna: We do everything we can to fix this. Workshops with external guests are planned in a way to inspire the strategic planning and we hope it will serve this purpose. A day and a half is really not enough to cover all the aspects of the topic, so one of our main selecting question was “Is it useful for AEGEE?”. We hope it will be visible for participants and will result in many great initiatives in the upcoming year.

Are you planning to collaborate with Luca Bisighini, the Policy Officer on Migration? How?
Anna: Definitely! During our live meeting, we had a first Skype with Luca in order to share our expectations and plans, as well as to see how the consultation for the policy paper will fit into the EPM agenda. In the last days, the content managers, Luca and CD have been in regular contact to seek cooperation: probably by leading some session, and definitely using the space to consult the members and include the conclusions of the conference in the policy paper.

 
Refugee is a hot topic, but yet very delicate. How will you treat it?
Romy: We realised this as well, that’s why we’ll create an informational booklet beforehand with some general information and definitions regarding the current situation. In this booklet we will also discuss how to have a respectful debate. In the end it is important that everyone is able to voice their (thought-through) opinion.

 
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

The European Planning Meeting (EPM) will officially start on the 18th of February and the topic choosen during Autumn Agora Cagliari is “Europe and Russia, view from the youth prospective”. In order to develop the topic in the best way possible, two content managers were appointed, with the help of Lavinia Manea (AEGEE-București), Content manager of EBM Lublin 2014 (European Boards Meeting, now known as EPM). Content managers of the EPM are Nikolay Kazantsev (AEGEE-Moskva) and, after the resignation of Roland Papp (AEGEE-Budapest), Adrian Browarczyk (AEGEE-Poznań). We spoke with them to understand why this topic is so important!

Adrian, you were part of the core team from the Eastern Partnership II, who proposed this topic. Why?

Adrian: Our project aims to, amongst other things, create an opportunity for discussion. The Eastern Partnership region seems today highly interesting in terms of sociopolitical developments. Ukraine became the country that struggled the most lately with its, yet another, unsuccessful call for democracy and freedom. Russia became at the same time one of the key players in the geopolitical game in the eastern part of Europe and having these two arguments in mind we could not resist bringing in up to the Network. First talks on a possible topic suggestion took place in October 2014 and involved AEGEEans from different European bodies. We all developed the idea of the current EPM topic, being aware of the need of youth involvement in the ongoing processes for reconciliation and peace building. We knew that it was time for a debate on how we, all, can contribute to conflict resolution and that is why we took such an initiative.

What is your background in this field?

Adrian: Europe, as a whole, was always an area of particular interest for me. I joined AEGEE with the aim of broadening horizons and getting to know the complexity of the society we all live in. Since the very beginning I was very much into international cooperation and policy-making processes and that is why I chose the Eastern Partnership Project (EaP) as a platform for self- and skills development. Nonetheless these factors were not the key ones that made me decide on joining the project. Eastern Europe since 2009 has become a zone of a specific European concern and it was actually Poland who supported vividly the democratic developments in the region. Coherently speaking, I followed the path of our policy-makers and since 2012 have tried to bring the EaP’s issue to the Network. Falling in love with the region’s extensiveness, in a group of three we re-launched the Eastern Partnership Project in 2013 and since that time I have grown my understanding of the needs and challenges Eastern Europe deals with nowadays. Our project made me decide to step even further and dedicate my academic career to this part of Europe: I am reading now the politics, economy and history of Russia, Central and Eastern Europe at one of the most prestigious British universities in the analysis of the post-Soviet countries. This is what I call my thematic background.

Why did you apply to become a content manager?

Nikolay: During my work with youth policies I was always interested in EU-Russia relationships. This topic traces its roots in a long-term discussion about western vs. national values in Russia (and therefore country development direction) that took part during the last 150 years. An interesting point is that before the tatar invasion of Russia/Ukraine (a common state once known as Kievan Rus) during 13th century, both countries undoubtedly were accepted as “European” (through their connection with Bizantinum and a common religion). The later history structured both countries in the frame of the Russian Empire with “western” powers, especially during XIX and XX centuries. After the end of the Cold War we had a chance to move towards prosperity and the bright future of a culturally united Europe. However that did not happen, but we still have a big potential developing the youth – as we successfully do in AEGEE. The last conflict in Ukraine has shown that despite of the  clash of medias, AEGEEans keep communicating and working together.

Are there still spheres of EU/Russia influence? Should Russia be accepted as EU candidate/close partner or its position is deeply in Asia? How could we bring Russia and EU together? The answers to those questions pulled me towards my decision to apply for a Content Manager position. And I want to thank Comité Directeur sincerely for their trust.

Why do you think it’s important for us, as an aassociation, to discuss the topic?

Adrian: We all face similar challenges that were raised after the widespread international tension between Russia and the rest of Europe in recent months. Everyone is basically influenced by the events happening not only in Georgia, Armenia or the eastern part of Ukraine and we all must be aware that our input is highly needed in this time of turmoil and international instability. I see the power of our association in building bridges of trust and cooperation. We have a strong voice in policy shaping and a are taking steps towards peace building, therefore I do believe this EPM is going to come up with a large list of solutions and suggestions on possible joint initiatives that could contribute to linking what has not been lost yet.

Nikolay: It is important for us because AEGEE unites border-less youths and its a large pool of active citizens able to change their surrounding environment, but before we act we need to align our knowledge on this large scale historical problem, because the access to real information is constrained, there is a lot of misinterpretation from both sides. We need to connect the youth, the experts and politicians to plan possible actions towards warming relationships between the EU and Russia on the youth level.

What do you think is the status of the relationship between EU and Russia?

Nikolay: The current status is “frozen”, not a “cold war” of course, that we can hear from media, but both sides have undoubtedly fears caused by uncertainty, for instance European countries because of the annexation of Crimea, Russia because of its traditional fear of NATO and the US, and the rise of nationalism in Ukraine.

Adrian: I would go for an explanation that I tend to use quite frequently: I find the relationship very tense, but believe simultaneously there is room for improvement. I would not limit the problem to the EU only, as there are many actors involved here who do not belong to our great united family. All six Eastern Partnership countries, but also Turkey and the Balkans should redefine their attitude towards Russia (or Kremlin being more precise) in order to go back to times when peace and stability ruled over the continent. Recent events in the eastern part of Ukraine proved however that one side of the conflict seems to be ready to let the blood of innocent people be shed. If it goes in this direction, the tension may evolve into a greater clash of interests.

There were few applications for participating at the EPM, why do you think this happened?

Adrian: There are many speculations about it, but there are two arguments that apparently win in my opinion: the coincidence of having two statutory events in one country within few weeks and the fact that Burgos is not easily reachable for those really interested in the event made it impossible for them to apply.

Nikolay: The Agora also takes place in Spain and members from Russia and Ukraine are affected by recent financial situation: their currencies have fallen down. We took some measures to support both teams from embassies.

Which are your desired outcomes from this event?

Adrian: I would love to come back from Burgos being aware that the participants properly learned the profile of the crisis and drew conclusions on how we, young European leaders, can influence changes in a common understanding. I want to end up with a list of joint initiatives to be implemented this year with a particular focus on conflict resolution and on  the Europe-Russia growing tension. My personal aim is to be ready to present a position of AEGEE towards today’s challenges to our respective policy-makers and people who directly work on the above mentioned matters. I believe we are capable to lead sophisticated discussions on crucial challenges our community faces and hope we all are going to enjoy our time in Burgos to the fullest, getting acquainted with the complexity of problems of our times.

Nikolay: I would like to see new commitments to partnerships on youth level and the development of more projects for 2015.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia