It has been over a year since AEGEEDebate was introduced to the AEGEEan. Recently, a very relevant debate was published, in cooperation with Yvote, on the differences between national rules on participation in the European elections. This made us wonder how the project has developed over the last year and what the future holds, according to one of the initiators of the project: Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno). 

European Presidential Debate 2014

What AEGEEDebate is

Ivan says that “the initiative started at the beginning of 2013. So far, there have been 12 online debates on various topics related to society, the EU, politics or AEGEE. There were experiments with the video debates recently, but because of some technical problems the text-based debates prevail. This year the website also got a Visual Identity template. So the AEGEEDebate initiative has got its own pace right now. People are slowly starting to recognize it and the format. One aspect that is still underdeveloped however, is the cooperation with other thematic bodies of AEGEE-Europe. This platform for debate has the ability to partly overcome the much discussed “lack of cooperation” on European level of AEGEE-Europe.”

The reason behind the creation of the platform

Ivan believes that there are a few definite answers in the world and thus we need to talk and argue about the phenomena that are not definite. “Our social reality is full of such indefinite answers. At Agora, when the prytania is dealing with for example removing nationalities from CIA or establishing regional structure of AEGEE (just to mention first two that crossed my mind), the arguments for or against do not possess a value true/false, but strong/weak. Therefore they offer the space for debate and controversy. The same applies when we talk about problems in society (elections, populism, immigration or war). So the reason for the existence of AEGEEDebate is to provide an online-space for controversial debates. In this way, the debate in AEGEE won’t be restricted and only open to Agora attendees, but provided to a broader audience.”

Benefits of AEGEEDebate

Ivan is convinced that the debate brings three basic benefits for AEGEE. “First, the debate is informative. You get information and knowledge when you listen or read the debate. Thus, you can learn new points of view and perspectives to the problem. Second, the debate develops your skills. I will divide them into two categories – quality of argumentation and ethics of argumentation. The quality of argumentation means that those who debate regularly are able to express their opinion in a brief and structured way that is to the point. Moreover, their arguments satisfy the logical requirements and are reasonable without fallacies (logical mistakes). The ethics of argumentation covers such values as tolerance and respect to different opinions. These values lead debaters into critical thinking about the ideas they heard or had in mind. Last, but not least, is the promotion of citizenship. This abstract concept covers the area of participation and education. Debating makes you engage in fields you care about. Whether it is in your local city, AEGEE or university, debate skills enable you to participate in decision-making and help to raise your self-confidence. Citizenship is also about recognizing between the facts and the feelings, between populism and reasonable arguments. All this is achieved by debating. All in all, as you can see, debating brings more good than harm.”

Involvement of participants

Last month Ivan realized that only organizing debates online does not contribute much to the above mentioned benefits. “That was a decisive moment to launch a new function of AEGEEDebate. From now on, you can find on the website the sub-page Resources that will be regularly updated with material to increase your knowledge about the debate. You can find out how to recognize arguments, what is a debate case or find some other debate portals to learn even more. By this, I believe I can fill the empty space on the website to provide information and basic materials for the development of your skills.

I would say an obvious statement that you can infer even from the text alone. Debate is important for any individual or organization. We need to face controversial issues and debate about them. AEGEEDebate tries to achieve this goal by online means.”

If you have any suggestion for the initiative or you are willing to help with it (PR, design, website or anything else) you can contact the AEGEEDebate team by email at aegeedebate@gmail.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Written by Ivan Bielik, AEGEE-Brno and Wieke van der Kroef, AEGEE-Leuven/Amsterdam

Last month there were elections in all the Working Groups of AEGEE. Anna Gumbau Martínez got elected into the board of the International Politics Working Group and at the same time the super motivated AEGEE-Barcelona member became the editor-in-chief of The AEGEEan Magazine. The former editor-in-chief Patricia Anthony introduces you to the new leading lady of AEGEE’s online magazine. 

You have lots of AEGEE experience, but can you tell us a bit about your favourite experience so far?

I have only been active in AEGEE for a year, but there are already so many experiences that I have learnt from. At the local level it was organising a Summer University with AEGEE-Las Palmas, which was completely challenging and time-consuming, but I have learnt a lot and had a great time. The Agora Budapest was the event that got me interested in the European level of AEGEE, so it will always remain very special for me. And being editor for the Thematics section of The AEGEEan was the starting point of some very good times for me… I just can’t decide on one, and I know there are still so many good experiences to come!

What made you interested in becoming editor-in-chief of The AEGEEan?

I felt extremely motivated to take one step forward, I thought I got the experience in journalism needed for that and I got the feeling I was prepared to take up the position. Besides, I felt very encouraged by other team members of the magazine who gave me lots of support. All in all, I am in love with this project: I just love journalism and I love AEGEEing… so The AEGEEan is the point where my two biggest passions meet! I always answer the same thing, but this is exactly how I feel about it. I want to keep improving it and I feel extremely honoured to be leading the magazine.

The AEGEEan team members in Zagreb

What is special about being part of The AEGEEan?

It is the ideal starting point to understand and have a bigger picture of our organisation. In just a couple of months you can learn so much about it! You manage to meet lots of interesting people and their inspiring stories: I always say that each one of us has a story to be told. Moreover, your English writing skills improve at a high speed, and you learn a lot from each one of the editors, journalists and proofreaders. Each one of us has a very different profile and it becomes a very enriching experience.

What would you like to achieve as editor-in-chief?

First, I want to keep up informing on the stories that happen to our members, locals and European level bodies, thus being committed to have a well-informed Network. I would also like to work on our human resources by giving them opportunities for training and self-development, and to assure that there is a well-prepared new generation of AEGEEan journalists rocking the magazine in the next years. Besides this, I would like to work on new, innovative ways to communicate and to present stories, and especially focus on a good strategy to cover Statutory events.

Recently you were fair manager for the Agora in Zaragoza, how was that experience?

The overall experience was very enriching. I felt very lucky to work with my “fairies” (Dasha Onokhova, Olga Rivero, Kathrin Renner and Madalena Sousa), the previous work before the Agora went almost perfect and I wasn’t as stressed as I expected myself to be. It is true that, once the day arrived, there were a few inconveniences that we did not expect at all. But, despite the circumstances, we were fast addressing these issues and adapted our idea without losing our nerves, so I think we did a good job. Besides, I got very positive feedback about the content that the different bodies provided at the Fair, which made me really happy.

How did it help that it was former fair manager Olga Rivero (AEGEE-Oviedo) who was helping you and Dasha with organising the fair?

Having Olga in our Fair team was definitely a plus. She was helpful from the start: I got lots of advice from her even before applying and afterwards she was our contact person with the local organisers and made our work much smoother. I will never be grateful enough for all the efforts she put on the Fair, it was so easy to work with her that I would love to team up again!

How did it help being two fair managers instead of one?

It helped a lot indeed, especially regarding the task division. Dasha is a really creative soul and did a great job with the visual conception of the Fair, so she was indeed a perfect workmate for me. And it is always better when you have someone else to share your nervousness and stress with!

Why would you encourage others to become fair managers?

I would encourage them because, even if you might look extremely stressed and about to pull someone’s hair on the day of the Fair, it is a very fun and rewarding task. It is a unique experience to get deep into the plans of different European level bodies and engage the participants of the Agora with their activities. I was recently talking to one of the organisers of Spring Agora Patra and told him I had so much fun that I might even take up the challenge and apply as the AEGEE Fair Manager again! Just kidding… or maybe not.

What do you think about the organisation of the Agora in general?

It’s extremely hard to organise an event for more than 800 people, AEGEE-Zaragoza has succeeded and I admire them a lot for that. It was great to have the plenaries and the accommodation at the same location, and they made a great effort when it comes to fundraising… so my overall impression is really good!

You have recently joined the International Politics Working Group (IPWG) board, what made you interested in that?

I was a member of the IPWG for a year because I have always had a strong interest in international politics; I am currently doing my specialisation seminar in International Journalism, and I am planning to obtain a Master’s degree on something related to the field of international affairs once I finish my bachelor’s. I have always followed the world news quite closely, and as PR responsible, I can also take up some tasks related to my current field of studies.

What are your plans with the IPWG?

Our main task will be to keep it alive and rocking! We want to activate our members and I am happy to see that there are ambitious plans. For instance, the IPWG will have a strong role in the upcoming Election Observation Project, which you will hear from very soon in the magazine. There are other projects and actions still to be defined, but I would also like to introduce the topic of nationalisms and separatism in Europe in the agenda of our Working Group.

You are going to Belgium next year on Erasmus, what made you choose that place?

During my first AEGEE event I visited Leuven, the city I chose, and I completely loved it! I still keep in touch with some members from AEGEE-Leuven, and there are some other AEGEE friends around whom I would love to pay a visit during my stay. Besides, my cousin also did her Erasmus there and she was absolutely delighted… and I just love beer, so that is definitely a plus. The only “minus” I see that I absolutely hate the rain, but maybe this is the perfect time for me to overcome it.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

The Member of the Month of November is Alin-Florin Calin.  He is an AEGEE member that was born in Western Romania and grew up in Eastern Austria, currently studying international law and history in Vienna. He got involved with AEGEE through local board activities in Vienna, the first experience that awoke his passion for AEGEE, followed by his first Agora in Alicante and the involvement in Juridical Commission – all this within one year.

He knew from the very beginning that the European level of AEGEE was the perfect place for him. He explains that the path became clearer when he got a better insight of the full structure of AEGEE. That made him aware of the fact that he wants to focus on the external relations body of AEGEE, the Liaison Office (LO), and deal more with international relations. He has just finished his term representing our Network in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and at the same time joined the team which represents AEGEE in the United Nations (UN). Since the last activities were very close to international relations, he also decided to join the International Politics Working Group (IPWG) board while doing his UN-related work.

Alin joined AEGEE because of his desire to be involved in an international environment and the possibility to join the Summer University Transsiberian Dream Volume 3 of AEGEE-Moskva . This was an old adventure dream of his – going mostly by train and bus from Saint Petersburg all the way through Asia to Dubai in seven weeks. The reason why he became more and more involved in AEGEE was an event in his first active months where he had a lot of fun and met the first interesting friends in AEGEE. What followed was the first AEGEE love affair, the first Agora, the first European level task and now he is interviewed as Member of the Month, having been chosen from among 13.000 members.

Before starting the interview one of the questions asked to Alin was what has been his favorite task so far and he jokes with a smile saying that by far the funniest part has been counting ballots while being part of the Juridical Commission (JC).  Joke aside, his favorite experience is not so far from counting ballots, since Alin really enjoys what he is dealing with now: observing the counting procedure. “I think it is what I am doing now, dealing with international relations, especially in conferences. But in general, there is satisfaction when you see the results of your efforts.”

The AEGEEan: You are very active on the European Level of AEGEE, what motivates you to take part in so many different projects?

It is a way of working that is totally different from local activities. You are working in international teams on international politics. I love the chance to have an impact on AEGEE’s way which is related to my interests and abilities. This gives me the feeling that I do something relevant for the Network, and for me in terms of developing new skills. I try to achieve all my aims in a short term, which is very demanding but I do need the challenge.

You take part in many conferences in general, how do you find time for it?

It is all about time management – which I still need to improve. Often I simply take the time to attend the events because I just enjoy this experience. It is a very good way to learn a lot in many ways like thematic, cultural and social. But quite frankly, it is a lot of fun!

You have recently joined the IPWG board, what made you interested in joining that WG and what will you focus on there?

What made me do this is my interest for international politics, the potential to establish with my IPWG board new projects and to have an impact on these topics in AEGEE. Moreover I will keep a close eye on making some changes because I do see the need to reform a few things. Our Action Agenda is not finished yet.

You have also launched a new project related to election observation. What is that about?

Election observations in AEGEE were inspired by my involvement in OSCE activities and my previous terms in JC. After attending the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of OSCE this October as a part of AEGEE delegation, we decided to create internal election observations in AEGEE because the Network is the right place to train young persons to support democracy and peace. Our vision is to establish observations in various elections on European and local level, as well as in and outside of AEGEE in the long term, hopefully.

Were there many people interested in it at the Agora in Zaragoza?

We had on the spot a team of 20 members and we are now developing the project in order to have our first activities in 2014. Interested members are always welcome, people who are ready to take initiative and to put their ideas into practice. I am a person who likes to have things done but cannot do everything by myself – so I do appreciate team work and own initiatives a lot. I am extremely glad to have Thomas Leszke on board because he is a very experienced person. We have already a strong team but are still looking for more members to join us.

You took part in the second best Summer University (SU) this past summer: “Scandinavian Dream”. What do you think about the SU? What made you apply to go there?

What made me apply is the concept of Travelling Summer Universities, the cities we visited and all the party people I know from Copenhagen and Helsinki. I just wanted to spend my summer in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries with those friends. It ended with three Summer Universities – as participant, helper and visitor. I had one of the best summers I can imagine. The Scandinavian Dream team did an extremely good job and if the main organizer of the best-ranked SU (Catania) was not a participant and inspired by our time together beforehand in the second-ranked SU Scandinavian Dream, they would not have made it as the best SU, for sure. So it was team work again.

In terms of the future Alin is very mysterious. His goal is to simply keeping up permanent involvement, and a trip to Greece; and he tells The AEGEEan that he might event submit a candidature for Comité Directeur. AEGEE has been the ignition for many paths he has beaten. Only time will tell what the future holds for this very active Member of the Month. Congratulations! 

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

These days, all the Working Groups of AEGEE are in the middle of elections for new boards. The Sports Working Group (SWG) reflected on their year as the board of the SWG, and in this interview the Culture Working Group (CWG) and International Politics Working Group (IPWG) also look back at their time as board members since Agora Budapest.

During the time the IPWG has developed a new debate platform at the beginning of 2013, called AEGEEDebate. Besides this, they continued to update their blog website with new articles about International Politics. They continue to tackle various issues in AEGEEDebate which are relevant today. The success, however, depends on the will of AEGEE members to participate in the project.

One of the things that the CWG have been working on is the Cultural European Night (CEN) “During some months we developed a campaign to encourage organisers of all kind of events to introduce culture facts in their events. Culture European Night was one of those facts. Our principal aim is to include cultural topics like songs, typical dresses, some small explanations… That is the reason why promoting reports and contests like the best Cultural European Night Award have been created.”

Regarding the discussion on whether alcohol should be part of European Night or not the CWG comments “This debate has been one of the most famous. Hundreds of different opinions, comments, discussions… It is clear, everybody has a not ambiguous point, you simply love or hate it. Inside the CWG board we have our own personal opinions and have also debated about our general impressions and which point we should support. But what we have in common for sure is our desire of introducing Culture in all the CENs. Our desire is to have some shows, speeches, to learn about other cultures. The aim of the CWG is not to ban anything, but to enrich each event. If people want to drink, we are not going to tell them not to drink; people should be responsible for themselves.”

What have been the highlights?

IPWG: Networking. Since you are in the board you can get new, useful contacts with other people who are doing similar activities.

CWG: Without any doubt, we remark two occurrences: The recognition the CWG got for being the most active WG during the last Agora, and the creation of the new project EurStory. In the whole term were proposed 19 projects and 12 of them already carried out or done. Fifteen people have been actively responsible for these projects and many members have contributed. The board 2012/13 is very proud of this and believes in the possibilities of this cultural family for the next year. About EurStory, this is another sign of motivation; you do not always have the chance to watch the origin of a new AEGEE project inside a Skype members meeting debate. We wish all the best to this new family.

Both of the Working Groups agree with the SWG that keeping the activity high is difficult. To the question on what makes it difficult being a board member they say:

IPWG: To create communicate channels with members.

CWG: When a group has touched their zenith, the most difficult part is keeping the level of activity. We all are volunteers and have many different things to do in our lives. This was the challenge of the second term, which was not as active as the first one.

Will any of the current board members continue in the next board?

CWG: That is still not sure, but the current board agrees, there are many newbies inside the group who are perfectly able to continue this project and even improve some things. The current board members are continuing being active, of course, but we want to give the initiative to new minds, new points of view, a new capable generation. And this WG has enough potential board members for more successful years.

IPWG: It is not decided yet and it is dependent on the interest of others. Changing faces and bringing new ideas is, however, preferable.

It is certain that it is possible to learn and grow a lot while being a board member of a Working Group. “One of the best ways to “taste” the European feeling of AEGEE is joining the board of a WG. Inside a WG you have the chance to discover and get to know new people who organise projects and debate about the topic you like, in this case culture. So, it is easier to enjoy what you do and to find things to believe in. If you, member of the CWG, are motivated in your antenna and want to increase your knowledge and your experience in AEGEE, and of course you want to have much fun, we highly recommend you to join this cultural team; for the board 2012/2013 it was an amazing experience. We feel very grateful and motivated, and of course we will be glad to give a hand to the next team,” the CWG responds to The AEGEEan on the question on why they would encourage others to become part of the board.

For the rest of 2013 the IPWG would like to stick to the primary purpose of IPWG. That is to provide a discussion among the members, and at the same time they are preparing for Agora Zaragoza. There the participants can meet them at not only the fair but also taking part in the workshop hosted by Speaker Ivan Bielik.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

The election for Member of the Month for July is different than the others. Instead of choosing one member, the honor goes to nine AEGEE members that took part in the Identity meeting in the beginning of July.

Anja Köngeter joined AEGEE-Heidelberg in March 2011 because  she felt like giving something back to international students after her Erasmus and spreading the spirit of tolerance and solidarity among young people from all over the world. Another girl who joined AEGEE a little bit later is Ana Potočnik from AEGEE-Ljubljana, and she has a different story about joining AEGEE than the one you usually hear: “One of my friends decided it is time to find a boyfriend, so she asked me to join her on the meeting for the New Year’s event. I had no idea what AEGEE is, what kind of event they were organizing or for whom, but as a good friend I decided to support her “let’s find me a boyfriend” mission. One and a half year later she has a guy and I have AEGEE”. 

Another new Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) member and Subcommissioner of Network Commissioner Patricia Anthony, Ruta Jankauskaité (AEGEE-Kaunas) was convinced by the former Network Commissioner Karolina Mazetyte to join. “Hers was the most important role, as there was no antenna in my city and AEGEE was something I knew nothing about, but there was something I still do not understand that made me stay”. Another Subcommissioner in Patricia’s team is Maria Arends (AEGEE-Groningen) and she was also in Brussels for the Identity meeting. She joined AEGEE in 2011 because she liked travelling and she heard about AEGEE a couple of times before, but never took the step to actually become a member. Then she met some people, they told her about an exchange they wanted to do a month later with AEGEE-Budapest, and that convinced her!

Francesca Russo (AEGEE-Padova) has the typical AEGEE story of joining – she joined to take part in a Summer University and she is the one who has been in AEGEE the longest in this group, having joined back in 2006. Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno), an active member who frequently publishes articles in The AEGEEan, has been in AEGEE since the beginning of 2011. He joined because he wanted to become active in some student associations during his university studies. Opportunities that AEGEE offers were, and still are of high interest for him.

Matthijs Overhaal joined AEGEE-Nijmegen in 2010 but is one of AEGEE members that have since changed antennae – he proudly become a part of AEGEE-Tartu. When asking how he joined AEGEE he says: “That is a funny story actually. I just came to live in Nijmegen and basically did not have much social contacts there yet. I would not say that joining AEGEE was a random lucky guess, but all I was looking for was social interaction. I certainly found that!” Mayri Tiido who is also from AEGEE-Tartu has been Member of the Month before as well, and her story can be read in the article that was already published.

Matthijs & Mayri

These members have done many different things in AEGEE, so The AEGEEan asked some of them about their experience in our organisation so far.

Ana: One month after I joined AEGEE I became a board member of AEGEE-Ljubljana. Since then I was the main organiser of Summer University, SUPS, NWM in Ljubljana and helped organise other events in our antenna. This summer I also became Antonija Parat’s Subcommie and now I am member of ACT.

Maria: First of all, I started to do some things on the local level, organise some activities, etc., and I joined the trips. Then I became involved in the establishment of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), of which I will be Speaker until next October. After a while, I also became a member of Health4Youth project. Next came Agorae, EBM Valletta, Planning Meeting in Poznan, an SU every summer, Network Meetings and some other events. At the moment I am Patricia’s Subcommie taking care of AEGEE-Durham, AEGEE-London, and AEGEE-Sheffield. Last but definitely not least, I am now in the Planning Team.

Maria Arends

Matthijs: For a year I was not present in the European level of AEGEE. I had no idea who/what was important whatsoever and was only (overly) active on the local level. However, things started changing, mainly thanks to Mayri Tiido. She showed me how cool and amazing it is to broaden your horizons, share opinions etc. In the end, it led to the foundation of Health4Youth project, which I and the others are very proud of. In between, I went to Training4Trainers in Warsaw, which turned around everything I believed in. I became a trainer in the Academy, was a trainer in local events, Agorae and European School Summer University (ESSU) Patra.

Francesca: Local level: board member, secretary and now president of my antenna (for the last two years). European level : statistics analysis assistant of Mickey Turati and now Secretary of Human Rights Working Group and Subcommie of Network Commissioner Claudio Armandi.

Ivan: I started on the local level and then after one year spent in the board of AEGEE-Brno, I moved to the European level and became a Speaker of International Politics Working Group, developed my own project – AEGEEDebate, and took part in other smaller activities as well.

What drives you to be active in AEGEE?

Maria: A gazillion things! First of all, the people. You work with so many other motivated members, and together you feel like you can do something, you can achieve something. That feels wonderful. Besides that, AEGEE is an addiction. Every time I do something with AEGEE, I want more. So in short, I do not know what drives me, but there is a powerful force that I cannot resist! 

Matthijs: Young people are the future and our generation faces so many challenges, not the least of which are health-related. Being an active young citizen makes me feel that I try to help this generation further and add something of myself to it. 

Ana: I love AEGEE because it is something completely different from my studies (biochemistry). Sometimes I need my brain to take a rest from all the molecules and working in AEGEE is always fun. You meet so many interesting people with different backgrounds. What is most important  is that you always learn something new. I was active since the very beginning, so it is the only way I know how to be a member.

Francesca: AEGEE spirit! It is about what AEGEE can give me – meeting really cool people, finding interesting opportunities, having amazing experiences and then inspiring people to show them how cool it is to be active European citizens. I love helping youngsters to feel Europe!

Ivan: Self-development of skills which I cannot develop through formal education and the motivation to change AEGEE for better.

Ruta: Without a doubt, people you meet in European events, because here you learn but not through studying.

What made you interested in taking part in the meeting?

Mayri: I must admit that after attending my first Agora (Alicante 2011) I understood that AEGEE means so many different things to everybody. This made me passionate about what AEGEE is and I have had endless discussions about that with my friends. After hearing at Agora Budapest that there will be an Identity meeting, I knew I had to be there!

Maria: Have you ever tried to explain someone what AEGEE is and what it does? In that case, I think you know! I mean, once I spent an incredible time to try to explain to a friend of mine and I thought, if I as an active member have problems with this, then how is it going for people that are not yet active? How do you even motivate people to join AEGEE?

Matthijs: I followed the process since (almost) the very beginning and have always had my troubles with AEGEE’s identity. Being culturally, socially, politically and geographically diverse is a part of a double-sided medal which can be/is very troublesome. Analysing the opinions of all AEGEEans and drafting conclusions from them only seemed a logical step after that.

Francesca: ‘I’m AEGEE’ – me and all the other 13000 members. I wanted to be one of the AEGEEans who helped develop our association, who took the challenge to do something that was needed: clarify the essence of AEGEE, the things we do not yet have stated in a few words – vision, mission and means. So that every AEGEEan will not have any doubt when asked who we are!

Anja: AEGEE’s need of a consistent and updated identity is obvious – it is difficult to have a “common identity” among all antennae AND to keep the special characteristics of each local at the same time. Since I am writing my Master’s thesis on European identity and I was working in an advertisement company (which also faces the challenge of clarification of identity) I thought that I could help out finding a good result!

Ana: It was the everyday struggle to explain to people what AEGEE is. I wanted to find a common idea about what AEGEE is and “update” our identity to make it clear and simple.

Ruta: The wish to make it clear for myself (as well as everyone else) what AEGEE is (not).

Ivan: Since I joined AEGEE I do not have a clear idea what AEGEE is and what it stands for. That was my initial problem which caused my interest in participating in Identity meeting. I wanted to change this problem and to come up with some ideas.

What was the best part of the event for you?

Mayri: I sort of guessed that it would be a lot of work and that we would most likely run out of time. Although all that was true, I really enjoyed working late with other participants. In between useful discussions we were laughing in tears. I guess that was the best part for me – working hard while having fun.

Maria: I think the group. The group was really motivated and driven and we worked hard together. As it was a serious event, people sometimes get bored, but that did not happen this time. Because we were all motivated to come up with a good result, we all kept each other motivated. 

Matthijs: Not so much a part, but rather the feeling that remains. The feeling of really wanting to finish this meeting successfully, no matter if that meant that we had to work very late. We just could not let go of the things that were unfinished for that day. I will not be the first one to say this, but the feeling of working hard with people just as inspired as you is incredible. Also, I totally rocked charades!

Francesca: It was amazing to be a part of the process and to feel the commitment and passion everyone was putting in it. The best moment was working, facilitated by Ivan, until midnight to start re-arranging the statement of principles because everyone was actively participating and no one was complaining about the duration of the work. I love even how we started the meeting, with an exercise: ‘explain AEGEE in one minute’. I found it surprising and interesting to see that everyone has their own and often very different way to do it.

Ivan: Best moment for me was the active participation of every member there during sessions. I did not expect such involvement. Apart from this, I also celebrated my birthday during the event, so that was pleasant for me too.

Anja: I learned so much about group dynamics, project management and really enjoyed visiting the CD house.

Ana: It was definitely working late in the office on the last day. We had a lot of fun working on statements of principles.

Ruta: Night in the CD house without any of CD members in the house!

Some of the members have followed up on the event after being in the Belgian capital:

Francesca: After the event I went to the Leadership Summer School (LSS) and then we had our Summer University. Every time I had the chance, I explained to all AEGEEans I met (mostly during LSS) what we did and why. Soon a paper will be sent to everyone to understand better everything we did and it will be easier to explain!

Maria: We have finished the draft documents, discussed a strategy on how to implement it, and now I am really looking forward to start with the preparations for the Agora. I hope you will all like it!

The topic of AEGEE identity continues not only for these nine people but for the whole organisation. It is certain that their participation in this weekend meeting in the CD house has contributed a lot to the topic and The AEGEEan congratulates them once more for being Members of the Month.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

N.B. Jorge Miguel, AEGEE-Valladolid as well as Antonio Sanna are also chosen as Member of the Month but chose not to take part in the interview.

The European Democracy Project (EDP) is a proposal published by three AEGEE members: Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno), Armin Weckmann (AEGEE-Darmstadt) and Thilo Zimmermann (AEGEE-Pisa) on AEGEEDebate. The Project aims to give young people the possibility to influence European politics and to demonstrate that a European democracy is possible. This will be done by launching one or more European Citizens Initiatives (ECI).

You can find a detailed project description here.

Ivan Bielik

Ivan, you have been working on AEGEEDebate for a while now with the International Politics Working Group (IPWG), is it related with the new project, and how?

Ivan: AEGEEDebate had been launched at the beginning of this year as a place within AEGEE for discussion in general. There are not only topics closely related to IPWG. Such limitation may harm the potential of the idea, because we, as AEGEE members, do various activities not related only to international politics.

The link between AEGEEDebate and European Democracy Project (EDP) lies in the need of initial discussion before we set off the project. We should know opinions of AEGEE members, promote the idea within the network and potentially recruit new people into the core team. For these reasons, AEGEEDebate seems to be a useful platform to start.

How did you come up with the idea of the European Democracy Project?

Armin: For me it all began with an increase of newspaper articles and documentaries indicating the growing influence of lobbyism at the expense of civic participation and representation. Just think about the  documentaries We feed the world, Taste the waste or Catastroika, think about the discussion about water privatisation bureaucracy, genetically modified food (Monsanto rings a bell) and especially political actions dealing with “The Crisis”. I felt the urge to share my concerns about this process since I see a connection between those different things. I wrote an e-mail to Ivan telling him about my concerns. This is how the article on AEGEEDebate “The EU goes nuts?” came up and, in my opinion, this was the seed for the EDP.

Thilo: My concern about the current state of the European Union started with the euro crisis. If you look at the consequences that economic decisions have on (especially southern) European citizens it becomes obvious that we need a European decision-making process. However, a more democratic Europe is often rejected because some scholars and politicians claim that there is no ‘European Public Sphere’ and a ‘European Democracy’ is therefore not possible. I got so interested in this question that I started a PhD thesis about the euro crisis and possible models of European democracy.

As a former active AEGEE member I thought that it is actually AEGEE, with its pure European structure, which could demonstrate that a democratic European decision-making process is possible. I was therefore searching for activities that AEGEE was doing on this field and found AEGEEDebate and especially the “EU goes nuts?” discussion. I contacted Ivan and Armin and together we developed the idea of ‘The European Democracy Project’.

So already the origin of this project illustrates what we want to demonstrate: With AEGEE you can discuss and plan ideas directly on the European level, without any national procedures. A successful project could therefore show that European people can connect to fight together for their rights. Civic participation is possible also on the European level. So with a successful AEGEE project, supported by young Europeans, we could create a story that is interesting for all: politicians, journalists and scientific scholars.

Thilo Zimmermann

You mentioned the special structure of AEGEE without any national organizations. Why is this important for the European Democracy Project?

Thilo: The economic integration has made us Europeans highly interconnected and dependent on each other. However, when you interact with other people you need rules, otherwise you risk to create chaos. On a low level of integration this rules can be created by intergovernmental regimes, however, on such a high level like we have today in Europe, you need a democratic European decision-making process to take certain decisions, despite all cultural problems and language difficulties. With ‘The European Democracy Project’ we want to launch several initiatives to raise the awareness of this fact. AEGEE, as a European forum to connect young people, is especially able to do this.

The European Citizens Initiative is a quite weak democratic instrument. Why do you think you can change something by using an ECI?

Thilo: Yes, the ECI is a very weak instrument, but at the moment the only instrument to prove that a ‘European Democracy’ is possible. It is an instrument that connects European citizens for a common political goal.

The challenge is to identify a problem that is affecting a lot of European citizens and that could be, at least in part, improved by a simple legal act of the Commission who, however, was facing too much national opposition from single governments and their national interests/lobby groups to release this legal act. An ECI can strengthen the democratic legitimation of the Comission to release this legal act.

The first Initiative that you want to launch is the OpenFacebook ECI: You want to ask the European Commission with a European Citizens Initiative to open anti-trust procedure against Facebook (and other social medias). What is it about?

Thilo: It is about European democracy! The European Commission does not have a lot of supranational competences. For example, since several years Vivien Reding of the European Commission is trying now to improve private data protection with a new directive. However, due to the opposition of Great Britain she was not very successful so far. An initiative to improve our basic rights is blocked due to the opposition of one single member state. Since the prism scandal we now know why.

But there is another way to change something. The reason why Facebook can collect so many data is the application of a so-called vendor-lock in: You have to be a member of Facebook in order to be able to communicate with other users. You are not able to choose your social network provider (that for example fits your privacy preferences) freely. Competition is undermined. That is different for example with your e-mail provider: you can easily send an e-mail from hotmail to gmail. It is important to understand that this is in principle also possible for social networks, as the examples of diaspora and friendica show.

Internal market affairs and anti-trust procedures are a clear and strong supranational competence of the European Commission. With a successful ECI we could show that, when you have strong European institutions and a high democratic legitimization (1 Mio votes), change is possible.

Armin: Another aspect also has to be taken into account – change in Europe lays in the hands of many people but those who have to deal with it the most are the young Europeans because of their age and their not yet fostered position in life (you are still trying to find “your place” in society). Unfortunately it took a long time before politicians were aware of their problems especially with the economical crisis the EU faces nowadays. This has, to my mind, two reasons: First one is the still weak lobbying position of young Europeans (political influence is mostly created by money – sad but true), the second is the from a supranational point of view unorganised way of resistance in a great scale. Student protests for example may be well organised on community or even state level, but for having an impact youth must coordinate actions European wide.

Since the EDP as itself sounds a bit “unsexy” at the first glance and the ECI doesn’t have the best reputation, this demands some preparation in order to raise awareness of young people European wide by discussions about a very important young platform, Facebook, on one hand, and by showing what you really can do with an ECI on the other.

The master plan would be: Gain momentum from the first Facebook ECI and focus it on the second, actually main ECI about European Democracy.

This sounds all very complicated. Will people understand all this connections?

Thilo: The basic message of the OpenFacebook ECI is very simple: Open an anti-trust procedure against Facebook. Everybody who feels annoyed by facebook and its data privacy rules will immediately understand why it is necessary. The rest is learning by doing: by signing the ECI you can contribute to change something.

How many people are you working on it so far? Do you plan on presenting it in Agora Zaragoza?

Ivan: The project is still in its initial phase when we are looking for support within the association and also explaining why it is useful to do. So far, we got positive message from two other people, but I believe this is not a final number.

Concerning the second question, I might attend Agora Zaragoza. So I hope I will have an opportunity to present and to show what we are about to do.

Platforms like AEGEE-L and the online forum have been created in the past to promote interesting debates as well but people are not active there. How do you believe your project will change this? 

Ivan: Now I should make a distinction between AEGEEDebate and EDP because I am not sure which project you mean. Concerning AEGEEDebate, I believe that by using Facebook page and mailing lists within AEGEE I am able to promote the idea of forum in AEGEE more easily and to reach more people. Consequently, more people could be informed and take active part in the debates even though it is not so obvious many times.

On the other hand, EDP may change a lot in AEGEE. Starting a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) could bring more visibility for our association and their values as well as push for the change in the EU to be more democratic (i.e. take into account voices of citizens). It is at least worth trying.

Armin: During the presentation of the project in Izmir at the EURENSSA event there was a controversial and very vivid discussion about the Facebook antitrust ECI – and that is exactly what we intended: It addresses the young people in their socialisation demand and their main platform of interaction, hence anybody is inflicted about what happens on FB. So starting a debate depends also on the media you use. Discussions via texts seem to be quite old-school and therefore not used so much. However, mailing lists and forums are not the main part of the project, they just help us as a means. Our further goal is also to involve other NGOs in this process in order to represent as many Europeans as possible. So actually it is not really about activities on AEGEEDebate or AEGEE-L.

On the other hand I believe a side effect could be an increase of political discussions of course.

How has the idea been received in the Network so far, did you get any feedback yet?

Armin: The feedback was controversial – some did not see the link between the Facebook anti-trust ECI and the European Democracy Project, some even didn’t see a point in the FB antitrust ECI at all. Others encouraged us to go on and had the same opinion as we have.

The people of the Network Commission are talking about how they can help with this project. How are you planning to incorporate other European Level bodies?

Armin: Any helping hand is welcome! We do not limit ourselves to the IPWG or even AEGEE. As previously stated, we also plan to involve other NGOs as far as they are interested. Especially concerning the Facebook ECI it will be helpful to involve Data Privacy organisations (dealing with the scientific part of the project) and other media since I guess Facebook will not support the advertisement or discussion of an ant-itrust-ECI about itself…

Concerning the NetCom it would be helpful to coordinate some activities that come along with the ECI such as information evenings, for example about Facebook, data privacy in general, computational possibilities and threads (search algorithms, KI), plenary discussions with other NGO members, also about the political role in data and internet issues, and in general how active citizenship in Europe is possible nowadays.

Also it would be helpful to involve the AEGEE Academy for workshops and know-how.

How are you planning to incorporate members in general?

Thilo: We will organize this project via the internet, so we will use Dropbox, forums, Skype conferences. So everybody who is interested gets opportunity to contact us!

What are the steps for this project during the next couple of months?

Thilo: The next step would be to create a homepage and prepare the ECI. Both, homepage and ECI should be translated in as much languages as possible. Every member who is motivated can join us to realise this project!

Armin: We also plan to make an organisational core team as it is done for any other big project. So people who are interested should contact us soon!

Written by Ivan Bielik, AEGEE-Brno

In AEGEE-Kraków, International Politics Working Group (IPWG) is not as popular as Public Relations Committee (PRC) or Human Resources Committee (HRC) but May will belong to them! Model of United Nations in Kraków is a project created and organized by IPWG in AEGEE-Kraków and is open for young people from over the world.

The era of wars, conflicts and misunderstandings seems to be averted and the world is developing based on agreements. However we do not know how it will be in the future. We need to make sure that the younger generations will be able to keep the peace. To achieve this, young people need to know how certain organisations work – what the work of a diplomat looks like, what qualities s/he must have in order to perform their function well. Although the job of a diplomat is a tough nut to crack, more and more young people want to educate themselves and broaden their horizons, to have an impact on the fate of the world.

The question is: how to gain valuable experience before entering the political arena?

IPWG members decided to take care of their own development and not wait until someone gives them a chance to train in the field of international politics. In May there will be an event about AEGEE Model of United Nations in Kraków. This is an international conference organised by the IPWG of AEGEE-Kraków in partnership with the United Nations Youth Associations (UNYA Poland) and the Oriental Academic Society of Jagiellonian University.

The participants, students from Poland and abroad, will play the role of delegates of UN Member States generating a common approach on the major issues of international politics. The project will consist of two simulations of United Nations meetings: one on the conflict in Mali and one on the issue of North African refugees’ rights in Europe. The conference aims to spread and share knowledge on problems of the modern world and UN’s role in solving them, and gives participants the opportunity to develop their diplomatic skills.

As delegates of the Security Council Member States or Observer States, they will do their best to defend the position of the state they will be representing. All the participants will follow the official procedure and chosen methods of negotiation in order to create together a resolution compatible with the ideas of human rights and peaceful conflict resolution and at the same time coinciding with the particular national interests of the state concerned.

As you can see, people who meet each other in a small working group can create a project that will affect the development of young diplomat’s careers. Apart from the UN meeting simulation itself, on the first day of the conference the participants will also attend a workshop during which rules of procedure will be presented, as well as some tips for a successful conference.

Written by Karolina Kubala, AEGEE-Kraków 

We all know that AEGEE stands for – and is also known as – the European Students’ Forum. However, some AEGEE members have the feeling that our association lacks the true meaning of its last word sometimes. A forum means a “place outdoors”, a meeting or assembly for the open discussion of subjects of public interest. So, where was the place to exchange ideas open to all AEGEE members, other than the Agorae?

Ivan Bielik, speaker of the IPWG

Ivan Bielik, speaker of the International Politics Working Group (IPWG), came up with the idea of a place to debate (“the ability of creating strong and valid arguments, thinking out of the box and defending your opinion”) inside AEGEE. Ivan is experienced in debating at an academic level, even though he strongly believes that it is not a skill that university is going to teach us, and he also admits that he constantly watches TED talks in his free time, using them as an inspiration for his talk at the last EBM in Valletta, under the title Dare to disagree.

“I said to myself that I could help solve this problem with my knowledge and experience which I have gained from debating at university level”, Ivan says. His idea was to launch an online platform that was simple, attractive and user-friendly, and to re-introduce the meaning of forum within AEGEE. This is the story of AEGEEDebate, which by now has three ongoing discussions.

The AEGEEan: We know you are experienced in academic debates, so how did you come up with the idea of AEGEEDebate?

Ivan: Debating is a skill, and I believe that the skills you practice in debates are essential for your life, but sadly, they are underrated. I believe that I have the responsibility to invite AEGEE members into discussions where they could practice these skills. I am not doing it for my own benefit or because I do not know what to do in my leisure time, but because I recognized that debating is essential for the whole Network to progress.

Then I came up with the idea of a common online forum, inspired by the British magazine The Economist: it has got its own sub-website dedicated to debates. I really liked the idea behind it. AEGEEDebate is more or less the same – two speakers, one relevant topic and an active audience. I am striving to achieve as higher quality as it is possible for our debate forum. Also, some friends of mine are active in a debate programme for kids and students. They are working voluntarily and with joy, and one of them set up a website for debating. It was and still is very interesting for me. I said to myself that I can do it as well for AEGEE, and the result is AEGEEDebate.

However, AEGEEDebate is not only focused on international politics, but on the internal work of AEGEE. Can these debates influence other bodies in AEGEE?

I intend to create a rather general debate forum. I expected some people would argue that it was not business of the IPWG to arrange debates about topics which are not relevant to this Working Group. I would like to clarify two things about this. First, I have a personal interest to keep the thematic purpose of IPWG and not to interfere with other AEGEE bodies. Second, I always try to be as impartial as possible when creating online debates. That means internal issues of AEGEE can be the subject of our debate forum if and only if the IPWG offers an equal opportunity for both sides to express their arguments (as in the recent regional distribution debate, for example).

Moreover, it would be a shame for me if I could create an online debate forum and then limit it only to politics-related debates. My idea is to have debates on current issues relevant for AEGEE members. That does not involve only politics, but also AEGEE world, economy, sports or human rights. The world is more complex than politics.

People who have taken the initiative to start projects in AEGEE know how hard it is sometimes to increase members’ motivation. Did you have to face this as well?

Good point. After realizing why I should do the project, there were still more practical problems: choosing topics of debates, promoting the debates and recruiting speakers, which is still a problem for me. I completely understand that so far people are reluctant to apply for the position of speaker in the debate, because they do not know what they should do, do not have a clear opinion on the topic or do not have time. This is normal for a new project. But how could you find out? It is only by trying. I love challenges, thus I am doing my best to overcome such obstacles.

Do you expect this to be a long-term project?

I do not like to do short-term stuff. Yes, this project is, at least for me, a long-term affair. The idea behind AEGEEDebate is worth of keeping. Therefore, I would like to ensure the continuity of the project.

What about taking it to a statutory event and organising a sort of ‘live’ debate?

Yes, I thought of having a real-time debate at Spring Agora Rhein-Neckar, but I am not going there. Positive sign, however, is that some people already sent me an email saying that they would like to have ‘live’ debates also during statutory events. Maybe during Autumn Agora Zaragoza the wish will come true.

Does the International Politics Working Group have any other projects this term?

AEGEEDebate is a pilot project during this term. But it is not all. We are preparing two initiatives now. First, there is an idea of small thematic seminars throughout Europe. I joined forces with two Master students that are eager to elaborate on the topic of ultra-nationalism in Europe. AEGEE locals should provide these two guys with logistical support and audience for their seminar. In the end, there will be a common European outcome about the position of youth about ultra-nationalism. I believe that this initiative could be successful.

Second initiative is tackling the topic of divided societies. The IPWG would cooperate with the Culture Working Group. Comité Directeur also supports this idea. Basically, we would like to encourage our members to tackle the issue of divided society through essays, photography, painting, song or whatever. It might have a competitive nature. The best inputs then will be put into a common booklet and sent to Prof. James Skelly (panel speaker at EBM Valletta), who liked the idea. I hope that we could preserve the thematic content of IPWG through these initiatives.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

A few weeks ago, the football team AEK Athens won against Veria, which made Giorgos Katidis want to celebrate. He did this, using the Nazi salute. Katidis (20) says he had no idea what the gesture stands for. His coach Ewald Lienen states that Katidis is young and does not have any political views, so he absolutely did not mean any harm by doing it (BBC News). Now we are wondering, just as the rest of Europe, is it really possible? Are there people in Europe who do not have a clue about this?

The Human Rights Working Group, the International Politics Working Group and the Sports Working Group join their forces to take a closer look at the case.

It does not matter if the player knew what it meant. He used the sign, and the punishment is clear: Katidis is now banned from playing for the Greek national team for the rest of his life. It is a bit more complicated than it may seem at first sight though. Was he discriminating? Was he making a political statement? Sport players are role models, so how does this happening influence other people?

Maria Arends – Speaker of the HRWG

In Germany, the Nazi salute is illegal, but in other parts of Europe it is not. I would like to focus on the way this offends human rights, and also I want to share some thoughts on the difficult question whether the punishment is too harsh or not.

Stretching your right arm is a violation against human rights

To understand well what the Nazi salute stands for, we need to go back to the year 1926. Europe was in crisis, crying for change, and the Nazi Party made the Heil Hitler salute compulsory, because it showed commitment to the party and it functioned as a declaration to the outside world. Although it was compulsory, from 1933 on it became prohibited for inmates to use the salute, followed by Jews, Roma, and other ethnic groups, until it was only found acceptable for the Aryan race.

Even though nowadays most people see it as a very bad symbol, back then it represented some sort of privilege. One that many people were excluded from, which went from bad to worse.

As I said, people were excluded, and they were not allowed to do something because of their ethnic or religious background, when people from other backgrounds were allowed to do it. And because of that, it went from bad to worse. It went from quite small things to a holocaust Europe will not – and may never forget. As you see, stretching of your right arm to eye level is still very much related to this happening.

Nowadays, the salute is still used by neo-Nazis, who represent some elements of the Nazi regime back in the day, such as nationalism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and anti-Semitism.

Katidis states that he did not know about all this. He did not know that the salute was used during WWII, nor that it is still associated with this and with the beliefs of neo-Nazis. But would he have used it anyway, if he had known? If it were illegal? Would he have done it if he had known the consequences?

The consequences for Katidis

Katidis can never play again for the national team. The punishment is loud and clear. Yet, it leaves us a lot to discuss. Do we agree with this decision?

He violated human rights, which, especially as a role model, is unforgivable. But what if he really did not know what he was doing? What if he realises how wrong this was? Wouldn’t it be enough then to suspend him from the team for a limited time?

The Italian player Paolo di Canio also used the salute as well in 2005, and he was banned for only one match. According to the article in The Guardian, he did this solely to greet his comrades, as the Roman salute (on which the Nazi salute is based) was used to serve for in the ancient Roman empire.

Personally I cannot give an honest answer to this question. My gut feeling tells me that it was totally wrong, a bad violation of human rights, and the punishment seems very valid seeing it from this point of view. Also, because it explains to young people who do not know a lot about the WWII how seriously we still take this. On the other hand, if he really did not know, then who are we to judge? If he really, really had no clue, did not have proper education, then shouldn’t we blame the institutions that were supposed to teach him?

Can it be possible?

Ivan Bielik, Speaker of the IPWG

In my post I will examine the two claims of the footballer which he uses to advocate his innocence in the case. First, he claimed he was not a fascist. Second, he told he did not know what that salutation means. After a step-by-step rebuttal, I will conclude the strength of these claims.

In the first claim, Katidis proclaimed that he was not a fascist. This excuse is quite common when your behavior becomes an object of media coverage. Appealing to the non-political nature of the Greek footballer is however weak. Even if he is into any other kind of political affiliation (Christian, Social democrat or whatever) this fact does not mitigate his real actions. Why? The problem of Katidis is that he did that salutation in a public space under media coverage and fans’ presence. That means his action (salutation) has a direct impact on others who could see it. In this case, your action becomes public, which means you have the moral duty to observe some rules which govern the society you live in. A fascist salutation is linked throughout the European continent with the ideology of race hatred and mass extermination. It definitely has a bad connotation in people’s minds. It ought not to be shown in the public space. Thus, such salutation is not appropriate in a public space such as football stadiums, even if you are not a supporter of the fascist movement. The first claim by Katidis is therefore weak.

The second statement is more interesting. Claiming that you do not know what such salutation means shows two fundamental flaws. Firstly, your level of education is very poor. Probably you felt behind in school or you are very reluctant to learn new things. Secondly, the level of social learning is even poorer in this case. Many actions we do publicly are learnt from our social context. For example, if you show your middle finger to someone, that person will not respond in a very friendly manner. He/she will insult you or fight you. Afterwards, you have learnt that showing your middle finger is inappropriate, because of others’ reaction (in other words, the social context). The same applies to the Nazi salutation. You could see such actions only in the atmosphere of hatred and violence when supporters of such movement gather together. They often insult ethnic minorities and offer solutions that are too simple for complex problems of society. People respond very strangely to such actions. Thus, this salutation occurs in very specific circumstances which any ordinary human is capable to comprehend (it is bad sign). Therefore, the value of this action is predestined by social context where it occurs. If the footballer claims that he does not know what it means, he is showing a lack of knowledge and intelligence. Moreover, such claim is not very strong, because it transcends your responsibility to other institutions (in this case education or family upbringing). Therefore, the punishment for Katidis is justified, because it emphasizes the personal responsibility of a person who is showing inappropriate signs in public. Without personal responsibility such problem will occur again and again.

Patricia Anthony, Secretary and founder of the SWG

Katidis’ case might be rare but cases of nationalism, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia are unfortunately too common in the world in and outside of sports. A case like Katidis’ raises the question of how to deal with such cases in sports. How is it avoided? How tough of a punishment is needed? What does it take to combat nationalism, racism, xenophobia and homophobia?

The answer is not black or white, and a large number of solutions are needed. On top of the list the SWG finds it important to take a stand and raise your voice in the fight against different causes. The SWG especially focuses on the fight against racism, xenophobia and homophobia in the world of sports, hoping that the actions will extend beyond the world of sports and especially the world of AEGEE.

Katidis’ case shows not only the importance and potential of AEGEE’s Working Groups and Project Teams to create different projects that can have high relevance of what happens around Europe on a daily basis. The European-level bodies are collaborating more and more, and all ideas are always welcome. What does Katidis’ case mean for you? What does it mean for AEGEE? What does it mean for Europe? Is it really possible to salute in such a harsh way without knowing the meaning of stretching your arm like that?

Written by  Maria Arends (AEGEE-Groningen), Patricia Anthony (AEGEE-København), & Ivan Bielik

Sources

1. BBC News. Who, what, why: Can you accidentally do a Nazi salute? Requested at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21829682 on 19-03-2013.

2. United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Requested at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml on 20-03-2013.