The month of December brought us a new Local of the Month: AEGEE-Eskisehir, a Turkish local that is organising a Fundraising European School with some experienced trainers and is involved in a Project called ‘’Volunteer Your Future’’. In addition, AEGEE members are already preparing their Summer University, this time in cooperation with the Election Observation Project. 

The AEGEEan: After being nominated LoM, tell us a little bit about how AEGEE-Eskisehir began to write history.

AEGEE-Eskisehir Board: AEGEE-Eskisehir joined the AEGEE network during the Autumn Agora Ankara in 2001 and has a long tradition of organising events that are open to all AEGEE members. From that day on, we had lots of different kinds of events and projects. We do not think to write all of them individually. For example, in 2005, we organised our second biggest event called “What is Europe,” an event on what Europe exactly entails and the role of Turkey during the membership dialogue between Turkey and the EU.

The biggest of all was the Autumn Agora Eskisehir in 2007, around 700 AEGEEans hosted by AEGEE-Eskisehir participated. Finally, in 2008 and 2009 we organised the largest thematic event in our history so far; our “Disabled People Project Team” organised the “Empathy Days” – after four years of local success, the “Empathy Days” were included in the 2013 European Boards Meeting in Valletta. We have a long and successful history but still, we work to improve our local and members more!

How did the Meeting of the Turkish-speaking antennas, that took place between 4-5 February, go?

We can say that it was a kind of NWM with Turkish speaking locals. We talked about our issues and every local shared their future plans. According to the results we had from this meeting, we need to do something together to have nice contact as in the past and need to help each other more.

How do you keep your members motivated?

As a board, we try to make our members feel worthful. We want every member of AEGEE-Eskisehir – experienced or new, it does not matter – to feel they belong here. We are working together closely. For sure, enjoying things together! We never say ourselves that ”We are friends”. As AEGEE-Eskişehir ”We are family!”

What did you talk about with the governor of Eskisehir?

In general, boards of AEGEE-Eskisehir go to meet with the governor and mayors of Eskisehir to talk about AEGEE and AEGEE-Eskişehir. We, as the new board, went to meet with him and told him about our future plans. Fortunately, governors and mayors of Eskisehir do not refuse us. They are trying to provide what we need. We are grateful to them!

What is happening next in AEGEE-Eskisehir?

We have lots of plans. For example, in the near future, we are going to have Spring LTC for our members and also members of the other eight Turkish speaking antennas which will be able to attend.

We are also going to have a Fundraising European School with four amazing trainers, between 3rd and 10th of April: Antonis Triantafyllakis from AEGEE-Academy, Daria Andreieva from BEST, Réka Salamon from AEGEE-Europe and Vladislav Andrijako from Euroavia. The participant fee is 75 €, that includes hosting in a villa, three meals per day, amazing sessions in Anadolu University which is one of the biggest campuses in Turkey, city tour, transportation in intracity, lots of fun and surprises! If you want to improve your fundraising skills, do not miss this chance because the deadline is on 23rd of February. So, apply from here!

We also have a local project called ‘’Volunteer Your Future’’. Statistically, knowledge about NGOs and voluntary rate in our country is very low. From this point, we created a project and we will try to raise more awareness about the importance of volunteering.

And of course, the Summer University Project called “Fantastic Elections and Where to Observe Them”.  We have cooperated with the Election Observation Project this year, and trainers from EOP will have sessions about the Election Observation’s mission and training. We will also visit three beautiful cities and have plenty of activities. So, 15 amazing days are waiting for 25 crazy AEGEEans!

We hope that plenty of motivated members will work for AEGEE-Eskisehir to make it greater. I think lots of surprises will come in the next terms!

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

The AEGEE Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the Estonian parliamentary elections on 1 March will be more professional than ever.  A cooperation with the Polish Forum of Young Diplomats (FMD) has been set up and after an open call two experienced mission coordinators were welcomed to the team. Read here a preview by Viktor Bezhenar and Lucrezia Aresi who will coordinate the EOM and Sławomir Szyszka, head of the Election Observation Mission of FMD.

The Polish Forum of Young Diplomats (Forum Młodych Dyplomatów – FMD) is a nation-wide youth NGO, bringing together students and recent graduates in the field of international relations. The Forum was established in 2002 and nowadays consists of 125 members and several branches in major Polish cities. In 2011, the FMD started the “Young Election Observers Program” at the initiative of Sławomir Szyszka. The program focuses mostly on networking: organising conferences on election observation, advocating for the rights of civil society observers and participating just like AEGEE in OSCE/ODIHR Human Dimension Implementation meetings.

AEGEE & FMD

The cooperation between FMD and AEGEE dates back to 2012, when the two organisations jointly applied for a grant to deploy EOMs to Georgia and Armenia. When the initiative to organise an EOM to the Estonian parliamentary elections came up, Sławomir immediately approached AEGEE. “I follow the AEGEE Election Observation Project with great interest. I admire it because it is an example of a well-conceived, organised and sustainable project that achieved quite a lot in a short period of time. We contacted AEGEE because we believed that mutual cooperation would allow us to learn from each other and improve our missions.”

The approach to election observation is very similar for both organisations. Just like AEGEE, FMD considers EOMs as a chance for young people to gain direct experience in election observation activities and both rely on OSCE/ODIHR resources to prepare participants and share results. But there are also differences: FMD missions last two weeks and focus on specific aspects of the elections and pre-election period. Sławomir: “I will arrive in Estonia two weeks in advance. I will observe the decisive part of the election campaign in the Ida-Viru county (the most north-eastern county of Estonia bordering Russia, ed.). I am particularly interested in the regulations and practices in the area of electoral finance”.

Missions by AEGEE’s Election Observation Project on the contrary typically last five days, are much more numerous and have a focus on the social, cultural and political background of the country as a whole. The cooperation between AEGEE and FMD will consist of benefiting from each others local partners, organising part of the program together and exchanging best practices on election observing and coordinating missions.  Thanks to both these similarities and differences, it will definitely be a mutual learning experience.

A great learning experience

The prospect of a learning experience was certainly the motivation for Viktor Bezhenar and Lucrezia Aresi to apply as mission coordinators. Viktor, a 23-year-old software development manager from Kyiv, has a clear purpose: “Due to the recent events in our country, many Ukrainians feel the need to monitor and understand political processes.  As I work in the software industry, I am incredibly interested in the process of e-voting (which is very advanced in Estonia, ed.) We need to establish this in Ukraine too, so I hope to learn from the Estonians and share my knowledge and ideas in my home country.”

Lucrezia & Viktor

Lucrezia (27, Milan) holds an advanced diploma in Effective Electoral Assistance and brings this experience in her approach to the mission. “I consider the elections as a process, rather than a mere event. For this reason I recognize the vital importance of the Electoral Cycle Approach, project management and international team work, in order to contribute to the transparency of the procedures. I examined in depth the political situation and the electoral system of Estonia. The country is being approached by European partners with increasing interest, and the resignation of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and the arrival of the new Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas have opened new scenarios.”

Viktor adds that “It will sure be interesting to see how the Russian-speaking Estonian society will act under the pressure of EU-Russian relations”.

Whatever will happen around 1 March in Estonia, it will be a great experience for everyone. With 31 observers selected and a busy program, some great results are expected. Lucrezia sees the people as the biggest highlight: “There will be many observers in the field and we, as coordinators, have to arrange every aspect of the mission. But we are assisted step by step by the amazing AEGEE Election Observation Project members, who are a constant source of inspiration. Moreover we selected brilliant, passionate and motivated youths. We can’t wait to meet each other and to work together on the mission!”

Written by Marije Arentze (AEGEE-Leiden), Publications Manager of the Election Observation Project

During Autumn Agora Cagliari, the Election Observation Project was established as an official project of AEGEE-Europe. After having organised five missions in Scotland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and two in Ukraine, the project is already preparing new missions for 2015. We spoke with the Project Manager Thomas Leszke (AEGEE-Köln), Content Manager and Publication Responsible Marije Arentze (AEGEE-Leiden) and Fundraising Responsible Anna Gumbau (AEGEE-Barcelona) to discover something more about the past year missions and their future plans.

After the first meeting during Autumn Agora Zaragoza, the Election Observation Project grew constantly and right now it has fifteen active contributors “who are literally from all corners of Europe – and even one AEGEE member from Tunisia!” as Thomas states. The adventure of the Election Observations started with the first mission in Ukraine in May, followed by Scotland in September, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine again in October and Moldova in November.

Marije was Mission Coordinator for Bosnia and Herzegovina and she was in charge of nineteen other observers who visited 45 polling stations overall. “The EOM to Bosnia and Herzegovina was an amazing experience”, Marije says. “It was my first time observing elections and I was in charge, which was an extra challenge. Everyone was very serious in his role as observer, which was great to see. The day after the mission, we gathered a lot of really sharp and critical observations, which was very rewarding to me.”

For Anna being Mission Coordinator was also very important: “Moldova was an extremely exciting destination to observe, due to its dilemma of whether strengthening their ties with the European Union or staying close to Russia.” The twenty-two observers came from nine different countries and they took the chance to understand better, and in a unique way, the political situation in the country by talking with some journalists in the Central Election Commission after the counting session. With the final report on the way, Anna gave us a sneak peak of the observation: “In general, we didn’t observe any majors flaws at the election day, but there were still several things to be improved, since a big majority of voters were not very aware of the voting procedures, the voting was sometimes not really secret, and there were even (very few) cases of group voting.”

For Moldova, the Project decided for an alternative way of funding: they launched a crowdfunding campaign managing to collect more than 900 euro in a bit more than ten days from AEGEE members and externals. This decision was made considering the fact that tickets to Moldova can be very expensive and observers needed some kind of compensations for their expenses. “Considering the fact that it was the first time that we tried it”, says Anna, “and that we organised it on a very short notice and we even had technical problems with the crowdfunding platform, I am not that disappointed with the result”. The Network responded well to the initiative, even starting one of their own like Jorge Sánchez Hernandez who launched the “sofa and blanket challenge” on behalf of AEGEE-Alicante and AEGEE-Dresden.

After this intense year the long-waited signature of the contract took place during the closing plenary of Autumn Agora Cagliari. “Although the plenary session was a bit messy and we did not have the opportunity to present the reports from our missions to Ukraine and Bosnia”, Thomas recalls, “it was a great feeling to sign our official cooperation with AEGEE-Europe and to get the support of so many AEGEE members!” A great support that was followed by another recognition.

In The Golden Times annual review, the EOP was elected as the best project of 2014 (even though the project was established officially only in late 2014). Asking about why they think so many people named the project Thomas says: “I believe that our project appeals to a wish that many AEGEE members have: to make a direct, obvious, tangible and personal contribution to our European values. We do a lot of discussing in AEGEE (which is good and necessary) but few projects have offered such concrete and challenging activities in the recent past.”  Marije adds that “what we do is very attractive: you get to travel, explore another country and meet other cultures. I cannot think of an AEGEEan who does not like that”.

What is next for the Election Observation Project? “At the moment, we are planning ten EOMs in total to countries such as Estonia, United Kingdom, Turkey, Poland, and our favourite country, Ukraine”, Thomas says. “Additionally, we might also go to the regional elections in Catalunya that were announced not too long ago. You can see the full list of 2015 EOMs on our website.” Not to forget the internal observation missions during Agorae. The EOP managed to run two OM during Spring Agora Patra and Autumn Agora Cagliari and an OM during Spring Agora Oviedo might be expected.

You can find  theElection Observation Project on Facebook or by visiting their website.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

In the past year, The AEGEEan was in the hands of Anna Gumbau Martinez (AEGEE-Barcelona), who was a very caring Editor-in-Chief. Although Erika Bettin (AEGEE-Venezia) was elected to take over, this doesn’t mean Anna will become inactive! While she will stay active for The AEGEEan, she is also a member of the board of AEGEE-Barcelona, the Anniversary Team and the newly founded Election Observation Project. For all these reasons, The AEGEEan thought it was time to get to know more about this active Spanish member who always has a smile ready for everyone.

First of all, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who are you, and when and why did you join AEGEE?

Hey! My name is Anna, I am 22 years old and I come from Barcelona, where I studied journalism. I think that the most remarkable things about me are that I love beer, cheese and chocolate, I am a bookworm and I collect postcards from all over the world. I joined AEGEE in December 2011, but I didn’t become active until summer 2012, when I attended a Travel Summer University around Belgium and the Netherlands. It was my first experience in AEGEE, I hadn’t even attended any local meetings, so I had no idea what to expect. Then I found myself talking and having fun with a bunch of other students coming from all over Europe. I have always been very shy and, in that moment, I felt so at home that I was sure I had found my place!

In the past year, you were the Editor-in-Chief of The AEGEEan. How do you look back at this year?

It was a very demanding year, especially considering that I was still in my last year of my Bachelor’s degree. It’s not only about the magazine in itself and its content, but it embraces all phases of project management. Of course, there were ups and downs and moments I was even considering giving up, but in the end, if I could go back in time, I would have taken up the challenge again – The AEGEEan is the perfect platform to know and discover by your own means what happens in AEGEE and have a broad picture of the association. We speak with so many interesting people, we report about so many outstanding locals, and publish about so many inspiring projects and initiatives. My highlights are each one of our team achievements, our live meeting in Brussels, and all the times we have given voice to projects and members who have had a positive impact in AEGEE and in Europe.

You are also in the board of AEGEE-Barcelona. What are your plans with AEGEE-Barcelona?

Unfortunately I will be out of the city for a couple of months and my role will be mainly an advisory one meanwhile. But AEGEE-Barcelona has quite some interesting plans! In January we organize a Regional Training Course with AEGEE-Tarragona and AEGEE-Castelló, we are developing the concept of our pre-event for European Planning Meeting Burgos next February and we might be also organizing something for Spring AgorAsturias. I would personally love to organize something for the 30^th Anniversary of AEGEE, perhaps a meeting with current and old members, so we can re-gain contact with our alumni. We are also planning some exchanges, and of course, a Summer University, probably within Catalunya this time.

AEGEE-Barcelona recently became Local of the Month. What makes your local unique in the Network?

Hmm, I don’t know who runs the world, but I know who runs AEGEE-Barcelona – girls! Out of our active members, about 80% is female, while three-four years ago it was completely the opposite. I think our biggest strength is that there is a strong cooperation between newbies and older members, and that we are a big group of friends.

What are your plans for the upcoming months (both AEGEE and personal life)?

My life for the next few months will most likely be devoted to one single topic, since I’m part of the Anniversary Team: the 30^th Anniversary’s final conference. For this, I will be moving to Brussels, in order to assist the Comité Directeur with the preparations. This will also affect my personal life too, since it will mean to adapt myself to another city, even if it will be just for a couple of months. Therefore, at least until May I will be fully focused on this. As I said, I want it to be (nearly) perfect! After that, we will see – I will probably start applying for Masters and internships like crazy. Of course, I will also still write for The AEGEEan and work with my Election Observation Project mates.

What are your dreams when it comes to AEGEE?

That’s a tough question. I think one of the greatest things of AEGEE is that you don’t know which opportunities will be knocking at your door, so I am still up for new challenges as long as AEGEE doesn’t end up becoming my comfort zone. However, if I had more time, I would love to give more trainings. My father is a professional trainer and I always wanted to follow in his steps – I guess AEGEE would be a wonderful platform to start. Anyway, I always say that I won’t retire from AEGEE until: 1) I take part in the Transsiberian TSU, and 2) I see an Agora being organized in Barcelona again (the first and only one so far was in 1999). And none of both things seem feasible to happen within the upcoming months, not even years!

What is the most valuable memory you have of AEGEE?

Oh, I have been asked this question a couple of times already, and every time I talk about a different one. This association has given me too many good moments! The first event will always be something to remember, all Agorae I have been to have been special somehow, the inspirational project team meetings, the times you have been an organizer/trainer and you have seen the smiles on the participants’ faces, the long and crazy bus rides to almost anywhere in Europe. Even the European Nights, despite that from time to time I tend to forget what happened. But, the best memories are always made by the people who have somehow left their footprint.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

On the 1st of December, Moldova woke up with the results of the parliamentary elections that would decide the direction that this small landlocked country would have taken. Bordering a European Union member state (Romania) and Ukraine, Moldova faces a similar challenge as their Eastern Partnership neighbours: keeping their ties with Russia, or pushing towards Europe?

Arrived in Chișinău, one could easily guess that there was something very relevant going on in the city. Giant panels with propaganda for the Moldovan parliamentary elections were spread all over the Stephen the Great’s boulevard, the main alley in the city. Some of them proudly showed the European Union (EU) flag and highlighted the European values and aspirations that Moldova aims to reach. Others, instead, voiced a strong anti-EU message – or, better said, a rather ‘pro-Russian’ message: “It’s better to be rich with Russia than to be poor in an indebted Europe!”, one could read on the panels from the Communist Party. Even Vladimir Putin’s face appeared in one of the panels: the Socialist Party showcased a picture of its leaders having a friendly talk with the Russian president.

It was clear from the start that Moldovan citizens had to make an important decision on November 30th. Since 2009, when the pro-European coalition entered in the government, the small country has been taking progressive steps to strive for a bigger commitment towards the EU and to meet the European standards. The country entered the Eastern Partnership and became what many consider its “star pupil”, as the magazine New Eastern Europe quoted. Its ties with Russia, though, are still strong and some feared that the contagion of the Ukrainian crisis could hit Moldova hard – in fact, its main exports, especially Moldovan wine, have been strongly affected by Russian bans for long.

In this context, it is relevant to highlight one of the main happenings before the Moldovan elections. Just 72 hours before the kick-off of the election day, the pro-Russian party Patria  (‘Homeland’) was banned from taking part in the elections after being accused of receiving funds from Russia. The party was expected to get around 13% of the total votes, so this wasn’t minor news – partly, because of the secrecy in which the Moldovan Justice Court had acted, as several experts acknowledged. Some feared that this would provoke a civil unrest similar to the Ukrainian EuroMaidan but from the Russian side, and  five people were even arrested the day before the elections, suspected of planning violent protests after the elections.

AEGEE-Europe observes on the spot

Twenty-two AEGEEans were deployed throughout the Moldovan capital, Chișinău, on the election day. From the early morning, when the polls were opened, until the end of the counting session, around 55 polling stations were visited. There was the general consensus among the observers that there had not been any major irregularities throughout the day, and that polling stations were generally well-equipped and organised.

However, the breakdown of the electronic voter registration system early in the morning was one of the highlights of the day. Long queues and overcrowding of the polling stations made it difficult at times to observe the procedure, and sometimes voters themselves were disoriented on which was the exact procedure in order to vote.

The long day was culminated by the counting process. One of the most striking things was the presence of several observers in the polling stations. From domestic observers, many of them representing several of the Moldovan political parties, but also civil society organisations, to international observers whom some of us could talk to.

Nonetheless, these national observers from political parties played an influential role during the counting process, sometimes obstructing it, arguing with the members of the polling station, and giving their opinion on the validity of votes (when, according to the election observers code of conduct, observers cannot have an active role, neither obstruct the overall election process) and acting rather coercively at times. As a matter of fact, many of the voters of the banned party ‘Patria’ did anyway cast their vote for them, so the number of invalid votes in several polling stations was remarkably high.

And now, which direction will Moldova take?

After the counting at the polling stations finished, some observers headed to the Moldovan Central Election Commission, where the first results were announced – and they were quite unexpected. “The Socialists have won”, one of the Moldovan journalists told us right when we got inside. Indeed, the Liberal Democrat Party of Moldova, the leader of the pro-European coalition in power, paid the price of being in the government for the past five years, and lost nine seats in Parliament.

Despite that, the final results showed that the three parties that formed the Alliance for European Integration kept the majority, winning 53 seats out of 101. The opposition got a close result of 48 seats – 26 for the Socialists, and 22 for the Communists, even though they refuse to cooperate and make a strong opposition together.

While the negotiations to form a new government are ongoing, these results might give wings to those who hope for stronger ties between Moldova and the European Union. However, one cannot elude the fact that a party which claimed it would be “better being with Russia” and which proudly showcased Putin’s face in their posters has actually won the elections. Throughout the past five years, the pro-EU coalition government in Moldova has been rather fragile and feared a breakdown several times, even though the aspirations of Moldova in Europe are pretty clear.

After the elections, the question is still unanswered – which direction is Moldova taking?

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona & Election Observation Project

On October 12th 2014, the Election Observation Project of AEGEE organized an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the General Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the second mission of this project after the EOM to the parliamentary and presidential elections in Ukraine on the 25th of May 2014 . Around 45 polling and voting stations in and around Sarajevo were visited during election day. 

The observers team, at 6 AM on election day, ready to start

Learning moments and eye-openers
As members of AEGEE, we realize democracy is fragile and should never be taken for granted. Therefore we aim to strengthen democratic processes and activate political participation of young people. With this in mind we took off for Bosnia and Herzegovina, hoping to contribute to the aim of fair and honest elections and to investigate the involvement of youths in the various election processes.

Being aware of the fact that our background influences our judgments and opinions, we left for Bosnia with a certain image of this country in our minds. The media in our home countries describes Bosnia as a corrupt, bankrupt country, torn apart by nationalist tensions and deprived of any hope for a brighter future. We are happy to report that our experiences during the elections do not reflect this image completely. In almost all polling stations we have visited, we met officials that were genuinely concerned about the fairness of the election procedure, especially during the vote counting. We saw vote counters working until early in the morning to ensure all ballots were checked and cross-checked. We saw almost all polling station officials handling the elections with a high level of professionalism. In addition, we were positively surprised by the transparency of the accreditation procedure for international observers. All relevant documents, even the Bosnian election law, can be found in English online in pdf format, which is exceptional compared to other countries.

One of the most complicated political systems in the world
The Bosnian political system has been named one of the most complicated in the world. The country is divided in two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), mostly populated by ethnic Croats and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), and the Republika Srpska (RS), mostly populated by ethnic Serbs. The country knows a three-headed Presidency, consisting of a Serb, a Croat and a Bosniak, controversially elected exclusively by their respective ethnic groups and controlled by the Parliament. Apart from that, each entity has its own president. The RS President has been chosen directly during the elections on the 14th of October, whereas the prime minister of FBiH is indirectly appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly. The FBiH is divided in Cantons (regional municipalities), and RS knows a National Assembly. Consequently, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina had to fill in four different voting ballots. All inhabitants of the country voted for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly, and next to that the inhabitants of FBiH voted for their House of Representatives of the BiH Federation Parliament and the Cantonal Assemblies, and the inhabitants of Republika Srpska voted for the National Assembly of RS and the Presidency of RS.

Map of all voting and counting stations visited in and around Sarajevo

Most people will agree that this is an extremely complicated system. We clearly saw that voters and even vote counters were having a lot of difficulties understanding the procedures. We are highly concerned that this situation detracts the legitimacy of the vote and the trust of the voters, which is harmful for the credibility of the political system. One woman said, shrugging her shoulders, while explaining the voting ballot of the FBiH parliament: “No one here has a job, so everyone tries to be a politician”.

Kako glasovati? How to vote? These posters with explanations of the voting systems were hanging in every polling station.

The position of youth
During election day, we had the chance to speak to a lot of observers and other officials. It struck us that despite the fact that a surprisingly high number of polling station officials were of younger age, young voters were underrepresented. A higher voting turnout among youths would be warmly welcomed, however it was very positive to see this amount of young people involved in the elections in another way. “At least in this way, youths learn how to do democracy”, as one observer put it.

The ethnic divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are frozen into place by the country’s constitution, which was not more than an annex to the 1995 Dayton peace agreements that put an end to the Bosnian war. According to this constitution, Bosnians are obliged by law to proclaim themselves as one of the three identities Bosniak, Croat or Serb, or “other”. Controversially, the “Bosnian and Herzegovinan” identity is not recognized. An observer told us the story of a friend of hers at the university. This woman did not particularly identify herself with either the Bosniak, Serb or Croat identity, but she was not allowed to register herself as “Bosnian-Herzegovinan”, because this identity does not exist according to law. She went to the principal and asked him: “What if I register myself as Eskimo?” This was allowed, because it falls under “other” identities. This woman is still registered as an Eskimo, an official recognized identity.

A busy polling station in Pale

Is there hope for Bosnia?
This anecdote is an example of what happens when the rules or the system of a country are being overtaken by reality. Whereas the older generation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still stuck in its ethnically divided past, as the preliminary election results clearly show, the younger generation is slowly getting ready to move on.

A lot needs to happen for this country to leave its past behind. The election results unfortunately do not show much progress, but the people we spoke to, the dedication and integrity we have seen in the polling stations, the power and the drive of Bosnian youth that we have witnessed all give us hope for a brighter future for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This article aims to give a short background overview, there are way too many impressions to fit in one article. Visit us during the AEGEE-Fair at Agora Cagliari for the full report of our Mission.

Find here the press release we wrote for Blogactiv the day after the elections. 

Pictures from Roel de Natris, Boudewijn Steenhof,  Thomas Leszke and Marije Arentze

Written by Marije Arentze, AEGEE-Leiden 

This month the member selected for the MoM (Member of the Month) award was Erika Bettin, member of AEGEE-Venezia, for her outstanding activities over the last month. From the Election Observation Mission in Ukraine to the interim mandate as Editor-in-Chief of The AEGEEan, check out some curiosities regarding this vulcanic member!

Alfredo: Erika, you have been awarded MoM! How does it feel?

Erika: It was strange, honestly. It was strange to write my own name in the nominees list (as EiC ad Interim, Erika was collecting all the nominations ed.) and it was even more strange to remind people that they were supposed to vote. I am proud, embarassed and happy. Being the editor of the People section and journalist myself, I edited and interviewed many past award recipients and they always had done something remarkable. I’m just doing the job I applied for and it feels very good to see people believing in what I’ve done so far.

Why have you been nominated?

The nomination sums up the activities I have done in the past 40 days or so: I have been in the team taking part in the Election Observation Mission in Ukraine, I am the Editor-in-Chief of the Key to Europe, my term as Editor-in-Chief ad interim in The AEGEEan and the OSCE/ODIHR Youth Forum in Warsaw. But I wasn’t alone in the ride, I always had a team backing me. Regarding Key to Europe, Svenja van der Tol (AEGEE-Nijmegen) is a marvellous Co-Editor-in-Chief. Without her, the process of creating such a publication wouldn’t have been so smooth. We are building a solid and sarcastic relationship, telling each other the truth as it is.

The OSCE/ODIHR 2014 Youth Forum in Warsaw was definitely Ermanno Napolitano (AEGEE-Milano)’s fault [she laughs]. Despite my initial doubts, he was right in saying I would not regret. Spending three intense days with people involved in different stages of the youth political scene was very enriching. Clearly the mission in Ukraine was not only a personal achievement, but a lot of people were involved and worked hard to make it happened. Thomas Leszke (AEGEE-Köln), coordinated the mission, Alla Resheten (AEGEE-Kyïv) helped with the Ukranian bureaucracy, Ermanno organised the meeting with the OSCE observers and AEGEE-Kyïv showed  me one more time (as if it was necessary) how a local can be proactive and full of resources.

Last but, for sure, not least I want to mention The AEGEEan team that worked very hard in this month. Thanks to the journalists and proofreaders, we delivered a lot of articles and we were able to involve externals to write for us too.

What did it make so special?

“You are doing a great job, you deserved it”. This sentence made it special. For the past months a lot of people said that, but I’m very skeptical in receiving compliments. It’s special because it marks seven incredible months of my life in AEGEE and it spurs me to work harder in the months to follow. It is even more special because this month, both Local of the Month and Member of the Month are coming from the same area: the Rainbow area (Italian speaking locals, AEGEE-Valletta and the Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Lugano). I am always getting a little bit emotional when it comes to my region, because indeed we are as crazy as horses, but we are living this sort of renaissance, thanks also to the brilliant job of Mattia Abis (AEGEE-Cagliari, Network Commissioner).

 Now that you are Member of the month, what’s your special message to the world?

I always dreamt to give an Oscar acceptance speech. Let’s face the truth, if Leonardo DiCaprio has not been awarded yet, I highly doubt I can win one. So, I would like to use this interview to thank Lisa Gregis (AEGEE-Bergamo) and she knows why, Luis Alvarado Martínez (President of AEGEE-Europe) for adding all my missing S, Alfredo Sellitti (AEGEE-Salerno/Bologna) for the lovely questions, my mother for constantly reminding me I need to get a life, my non AEGEEan friends who still believe I’m in a sort of nerdish secret sect, hashtags that makes my life more interesting, Cleto (my laptop) for being always on my side and all the people I bothered with mails and reminders for not having sued me for harassment (yet).

Ok, now some more questions for those who still don’t know you:

* What was the name of your favourite puppet when you were a child? (assuming you have been a child too)

Indeed I was I child and I still have my teddy bear, Lulù. Now he is 21 years old, as it was a gift from aunt Chiara when my sister was born. The poor guy is squinter, his left arm (where I was holding him while carrying all around) has been sewed up probably seven times and he is missing half of the fur on his nose because, apparently, I was convinced fur would grow again. I was wrong.

* How many times have you said “I hate you”?

On Mondays “I hate you” is the phrase I use the most due to the misanthropy that affects me at the beginning of the week. But in general, hate is a negative and strong emotion and, despite my tendency to complain a lot, I do not feel it very often. The true, felt, angry “I hate you” came out of my mouth only three times.

* Where was the furthest place from home you ever visited? And the one where you felt home?

The northernmost point I ever reached is Ängelholm (Sweden), the southernmost is Malta, the westernmost is Cabo da Roca (Portugal) and the easternmost is Kyïv (Ukraine). The one I felt home was Coimbra in Portugal where I spent my Erasmus. Call me romantic but, I have to find a spot I can call home in every country or city I go. It is not always easy, especially if you don’t have time to visit the place, but I tend to establish a routine to help with my homesickness.

* Where did you eat your best pizza?

Pizza is pizza. I can tell only where I don’t eat it: outside my country. If it happens, it’s always the last resort: or starvation or pizza. I made this decision ten years ago during a one-month exchange in Brussels when I saw pineapples on the pizza. Three heart attacks later, I order a salad and I vowed: never again.

* What’s your favourite recipe?

One part of Prosecco, one part of Aperol, one part of sparkling water served on the rock with a slice of orange and an olive. This is the recipe of spritz, a cocktail that is served as an aperitif in my region. It’s a must try.

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

For all of you interested in youth participation in international organisations, but not really knowing where to start, the workshop at Agora Patra held by AEGEE-Europe Liaison Officers towards OSCE can be the first step!

We will introduce the basic information on what Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe stands for, the context of its work and the opportunities for youth to become involved in processes of such huge organization. The functioning of this organization might seem very complex, yet there are many projects and initiatives open to the youth that follow models applied in the real professional context. And we will tell you why it’s worth taking part in them.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world’s largest intergovernmental organization focused on the issue of security. It operates also in the fields of arms control, the promotion of human rights, freedom of the press or transparent elections. The headquarters of the organisation is in Vienna. The organisation has originated from the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) that took place in 1975 in  Helsinki. 57 states from Europe, Asia and North America are members of this organisation.

 We want to make AEGEE members more aware and involve them in the opportunities for direct participation provided by OSCE for young people, such as Model OSCE – Youth Ambassadors programme, Human Dimension Implementation Meeting or Election Observation missions.

We would like to get your input to develop the Youth Action Plan, listen to your ideas to organise an AEGEE side-event at the annual HDIM meeting and discuss with you the biggest challenges OSCE is currently facing, in such fields as peacebuilding, democratic development or human rights.

After the presentation of the bodies and the opportunities for participation, we will have a more detailed look into each of these conferences. Starting with HDIM, we hope to collect your ideas for the side-event during group work and recruit participants for the next edition of the event.

In fact, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) organises an annual meeting in Warsaw to review the implementation of a broad range of OSCE human dimension commitments, including such fields, as human rights and fundamental freedoms, elections, the promotion of tolerance, use of the death penalty and the rights of national minorities. The Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) lasts 10 working days and is attended by representatives of OSCE participating States, NGOs, and international organizations and institutions. It is a place where AEGEE should be present and this is why we want to create an AEGEE delegation to participate in Europe’s largest conference on human rights and democracy! For further information, check the article about the attendance of the AEGEE delegation to the HDIM 2013.

Another part of the session will be devoted to the Youth Action Plan that is being developed this year during Model OSCE meetings organised in the framework of Swiss Chairmanship in the OSCE. This document is supposed to be a set of recommendations drafted by young people for the OSCE Member States and the organisation as a whole, which will be handed in to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of participating States this December. The document contains recommendations on a variety of topics,  such as education, employment and entrepreneurship, human rights, youth participation, peace and reconciliation, the issue of discrimination or promoting cultural co-operation. As you can notice, many of those fields are also relevant for AEGEE. That is why we would like to hear your opinions on them and give you the floor to identify the most urgent challenges in these areas and potential solutions that could be added to the Youth Action Plan.

We hope to see many of you in Patra!
Written by Aleksandra Kluczka, AEGEE-Kraków and Ermanno Napolitano, AEGEE-Milano

Who observes if democracy works? How does election observation work in international organisations? And should there be an election observation procedure within AEGEE? To answer these questions, AEGEE members Alin-Florin Calin (AEGEE-Wien) and Thomas Leszke (AEGEE-Köln) decided to launch the Election Observation Project during Agora Zaragoza. Almost five months later, the first project meeting took place in Köln from the 7th to 9th March. Ten motivated members of the project met to define the different goals of the projects and to discuss further steps.

The team elaborated four different aims of the project. Each of the aims presents a different level of election observation, and are: to have a pool of AEGEE observers that are capable of observing international elections, to create an observations trainings procedure during Agorae, to get AEGEEans involved in domestic elections and to establish an election observation procedure within AEGEE during elections at Agorae and local Agorae.

After a day full of hard work, the project team members joined AEGEE-Aachen and AEGEE-Lviv, who were visiting Aachen, for an European night. This European night took place in a small and cozy bar in the city and was a great way to end the demanding day. The whole team enjoyed the time spent with them and are grateful to the locals. As usual, it was really fun to meet old friends and to make new ones. The first project meeting was a great success and all members left Köln motivated and dedicated to work more for this interesting and demanding project.

Of course the project didn’t stop after the meeting, but will continue to give members of the Network a lot of new opportunities. In weekly Skype meetings, the election observation project is taking the next steps to achieve its aims. Right now, the project is researching how to participate in the European Parliamentary elections in different countries and also the possible involvement of AEGEEans in international observation.

For the Ukrainian presidential elections in May 2014 the team is working in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Project in order to accreditate our organisation to be able to send observers. At Agora Patra, team members will be conducting election observation during the Agora elections and show the results to the Network.

If you want to be part of the Election Observation Project, do not hesitate to join the EOP mailing list or check the Facebook page.

Written by Julia Krebs from AEGEE-Osnabrück and Nikolay Kazantsev from AEGEE-Sankt-Peterburg.