S e r e n a I d s e s u e 1 Korรงa 2015 - 8th NSC of EYP Albania
Editorial Dear delegates,
Seize the moment, make the best out of these upcomthe moment everyone here was waiting for just arrived. ing days because this is the unique chance you have to speak your mind on the world that surrounds you, You finally get to Korça safe and sound, ready to expe- while learning from everyone around you. rience this new event to the fullest. We hope that you truly enjoyed the first day of the session and you al- Serenade, the Media Team of the Session will be joinready met new nice people you want to get to know ing you in every important step you will make here in even more and work with from tomorrow on. Korça; from the funniest to the most serious moment we will make sure that this will be the time of your It is not something everyone experiences in their lives. lives. Going to a new city, with a bunch of people you didn’t even know they existed, creating new bonds with them Oleksandra Gipsh & Elisa Martinelly and talk to them as if you have been knowing each Editors of the 8th National Selection Conference of EYP Albania other since forever.
Brought to you by Dafne Bajraktari (AL) Daan Brouwer (NL) Sibora Kashari (AL) Mateo Kuka (AL) Christ Ligori (AL) Marina Mantsai (AL/GR) Tea Rama (AL) Margen Stepa (AL) Arber Bozgo (AL) Eduard Kele (AL) Dimos Papadimitriou (GR) Oleksandra Gipsh (UA) Elisa Martinelli (IT)
Table of Contents Welcome to EYP The Argentinian experiment Hamburger Imperialism! Opening working windows for women A glimpse of city X UNited in time An issue concerning us, not only now but always Albania and the European Union New technologies, new lives The full half the glass The EU: more or less twenty eight countries Interview with Head Organisers
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Welcome to EYP Are you a new or an old delegates? It doesn’t really matter- a unique experience is awaiting. by Sibora Kashari(AL) conclusions every resolution builds upon. You might be thinking-“oh so the teambuilding games are over now…”- just wait for it! During committee work there are coffee breaks and EYP games, so delegates can relax a bit during hard team work.
The National Committees are the heart and soul of the EYP- one of the most dynamic and active no-profit youth organizations in Europe. Before starting this The last, but definitely not least event: GENERAL session, we want to give you an idea of how you are ASSEMBLY going to spend these days: The General Assembly (GA) is based on the idea that structure is the key for a great debate. In order to elabFirst things first: TEAMBUILDING orate on and understand the different Europe related Team building is the first activity you will engage in topics, the GA is structured and conducted according and it is a fundamental part of EYP sessions. Through to the parliamentary rules of the European Parliagames, brain teasers, puzzles and just plain silly songs, ment. The working languages during GA are English team building gets everyone involved. In a nutshell, and French (oh la la!). it provides the delegates with enough confidence to Here comes also the very last bit of the session; the be themselves, improve cooperation and make new farewell party! Enjoy it to the fullest; don’t say goodbye to all your new friends, as you will have enough time friendships. Once the fun of teambuilding is over, it is the time for for that in the morning. another adventure: Committee Work! And then, what’s next? Please no #PED (Post EYP Depression)! Well, a little New adventure: COMMITTEE WORK maybe….ok, it will be a lot. Committee Work is based on the idea that even the most difficult process becomes easy to handle if you break it down in small chunks. On these two days of committee work delegates are challenged to create the resolutions for current EU issues. During this activity, delegates share their opinions about problems or solutions and discuss them preciously, by reaching
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e em h n T le o i s c Ses Arti
The Argentinian experiment The instinct of solidarity
by Mateo Kuka (AL) In one of the hardest times in the history of Argentina, while half of the population was living in poverty and misery, society showed that it was able to react to these dramatic scenario and it released its powers. Argentinian people started to selforganize and exchanged goods and services, a process through which ‘el trueque’ emerged. ‘El trueque’ is a precapitalist trading system that guaranteed the survival of 10,000,000 people. Anyone could take a part in the exchange only if they brought goods to exchange with coupons that would be later on exchanged for other goods. This was the feature that secured the balance of the system. It was carried out in special places, where for instance, used clothes were exchanged for meat. As the local Graciela Grajisevic, founding member of el trueque, testifies: ‘Not only did el trueque provided us with food but also granted us doctors and teachers for our children to learn English and dance. We had notaries who confirmed transactions and got paid with coupons which was the exchange currency. We could use this currency for tourism, nail artists, hairdressers or even casino. It was like a festival, soirees happened, the people sung and nobody got sad because they could eat, drink and dress, it was amazing! It was amazing not to depend on the banks, the super markets, the finance minister or the I.M.F. The truth is that we lived a period of unprecedented freedom.’
through a micromarket is a gigantic leap for the mankind’s economic viewpoint’ affirms Ruben Rivera, a cofounder. ‘And this we know is very dangerous. It is very dangerous that the people put into practice a method which allows them to be independent. To be selfdeterminant about their fate.’ The beginning of this economic movement’s end was the moment when the police visited the largest ‘el trueque’ space for the first time. In the meantime mass media reported that the products were stolen and the food was taken from the rubbish. However, their efforts to end the movement failed. What established its end was the dozens of counterfeit coupons, which was the currency of the system; the identity of the ones that issued and threw them in the market is still to remain unknown. The founders of el trueque never paused to claim that this was an organized action. A newspaper’s report of those days says that the police arrested criminals who transported a million of counterfeit coupons and when the journalists asked if these pieces were makeshift, the answer received was that large scale equipment was needed for such a production.
El trueque is still underway in Buenos Aires, in places where it is kept low profile not to attract the authorities. The argentinian experiment took place during El trueque was gradually expanded throughout the a historical economic collapse and it was one of the country and that was enough that the local econom- most vivid examples of solidarity. ic circles and the I.M.F itself humiliated it and asked for its dissolution while a US senator called it an act of economic terrorism. ‘This study of the market
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Hamburger Imperialism!
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Ancient and modern colonies by Daan Brouwer (NL)
wars attempting to hold on to their possessions. The Americans and British took another position believing that after the World War II “winds of change� were blowing away old systems and governments and that President Obama recently came under fire for stating former colonies ought to be granted independence that America seems to be drawn into all the worlds as soon as strong stable non communist governments conflicts. The criticism was not that America should were set up. not have such an active role in the world; Republicans including hawkish senators John Mccain and Mitch America as a former colony itself had long decried McDonnell were offended that Obama implied that European intervention in the Americas under the taking care of the world was a burden for the USA. Monroe Doctrine. This led to the American public American exceptionalism, the belief that the US has a generally not supporting the acquisition of overseas leading role to play in spreading democracy, free trade territories. This combined with the vast expanse of and thus improving standards of living around the land, extending westwards and waiting to be conworld is generally accepted in the USA. There is no quered ,confined American expansion to the Ameridoubt that American influence has spread far beyond can continent. its borders. However, the borders themselves have retreated quite significantly, considering that American One of the first American colonies was Liberia, which colonial possessions have included countries as diverse was colonized in the 1820’s by a private society in as Liberia, the Philippines and Panama. an attempt to rehabilitate former slaves in Africa for humanitarian reasons, as they believed that America After the Second World War the major European would never lose its racist prejudices. Already in 1847 powers faced independence movements in their var- the Republic of Liberia was set up, an independent ious colonies, especially the Asian ones which they government modeled on the US system with a virtualhad been unable to defend against the Japanese ag- ly identical constitution. Liberia was ruled by Liberian gression. Independence movements varied from pac- Americans for over a hundred years after indepenifistic resistance to the authorities best exemplified by dence and it was then ruled by American immigrants. Gandhi in India to militant movements with religious Its government modeled on the US was impoverished or communist overtones. The French fought the first and its leaders displayed authoritarian qualities. In the Vietnam war to maintain their colonies and the Portu- 80s a 30 year long civil conflict broke out pitting the guese, Belgians amongst others fought there own futile American-Liberians against the native inhabitants.
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he Monroe Doctrine led to conflict with the Spanish who still had sizable interests in the Americas. At the turn of the 19th century tensions boiled up as a result of the Cuban independence movement attempting to liberate Cuba from Spain. America intervened leading to the Spanish-American war which the latter swiftly won. As a result of the American victory the Spanish colonies of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines came under American jurisdiction. This prompted a great debate within the US about the wisdom of expanding and acquiring such overseas possessions. As the citizens of the US had a negative view of colonies, the government did not attempt to further colonize Asia and was against European colonization.
munism when liberated from western influences. The US led the struggle against communism, the Marshall plan of economic recovery in Europe was based on the belief that communism spread through poverty. This same belief led the US to support a broad range of development agencies, media organizations, political parties and NGOs as well as both military interventions. The US played an important role establishing the world order as it currently exists and enjoys a unique position in world affairs. If it may be obvious that the US engages in international affairs in an empirical manner, this does not say so much of American foreign policy itself, but it is more based on analysts’ beliefs.
In 1935 the Filipino Commonwealth was created, an early attempt of fostering good governance and democracy in order to be able to liberate the colony later on. However, this process was interrupted by the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and their creation of a puppet regime. Manila was an important symbol for the American war effort in the Pacific and when the Philippines were liberated the decolonization process continued. After the Second World War the West, including the remaining imperial powers, was concerned with the emerging worldwide threat of communism. It was generally understood that the time of colonial empires had drawn to a close end. Nevertheless, there was a great fear that former colonies would turn to com-
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Opening working windows for women Gender equality in the Member States by Marina Mantsai (AL/GR)
A controversial issue about gender equality and the disappointing percentages of women’s representation in executive workplaces continues to concern the European Parliament. Although the EU has made significant progress towards equality by forming new satisfactory and fairer legislation that enables women to be far more economically independent and socially autonomous, it may be claimed that gender discrimination still exists. What is holding women back from getting more actively involved in decision making process? And what can be done to encourage them getting engaged in politics and other relevant leading roles? Research shows that more than 60% of the European graduates are women but only 23% of them achieves to settle in a work position and that job is mostly part time. As one of the main reasons why, most women find it harder to balance their professional and personal life whereas men are mostly focused on succeeding only in their career. Experts have also proved that women are evaluated less positively than identically qualified men when applying for a stereotypically male job, owning to the belief that women’s sensibility and weakness can hinder them in leading a company or being part of the political procedures. Unfortunately, religion, media and school continue to convey negative attitudes of women bearing leadership positions and there are still families which support traditions about women staying at home and doing only the domestic work.
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For these reasons, the EU has introduced a new scheme called “Women on board” which aims at increasing the percentages of female leading roles through the implementation of gender quotas in order to break the glass ceiling and integrate female workforce in the labour market. Gender quotas is a mechanism which ensures that each European institution or private company hires a specific number of women. Countries such as Finland, Sweden, France and England have gender quotas in every CEO position and the results are quite positive. Especially Scandinavian countries have almost reached total equality with 46% women and 64% men. Nevertheless the majority of the Member States refuses to implement it such measure. Arguments support that gender quotas are against the principle of equal opportunities for all, since women are given preference over men and they don’t actually represent the democratic character of the electoral procedure. Furthermore, it is claimed that quotas change the criteria according to which someone can get elected, as long as the criteria for women getting elected or occupying a high prestige job is their gender and not their qualifications. Despite the continuous enrichment of EU’s political map, it is so far sure of only one thing; the protection of women’s right is indeed vital and tackling gender disparities is the only way of empowering women to empower society.
A glimpse of city X Everyone is born (un)equal here by Christ Ligori(AL)
I am wandering around the streets of this city. A normal city, part of a civilized and modern state, doesn’t matter whose. It’s a city that offers everything, and where everything can be observed, every aspect of life and the living. Here everyone is equal, for how he is born. Or is it so? This is our city, this is city X. Sitting on a bench I look around me. Slightly ahead, there’s a beggar. He is shrunken, essentially non-existent, covered in those filthy old rags he considers clothing. An almost empty cup lies in front of him, some coins at the bottom. And right by him passes a man, confidently walking in his € 1.000 suit, completely indifferent of the previous man in our bigger picture. I hear a car roaring, I turn my head towards it and I see this university freshman driving off his university campus in a car so expensive and luxurious that I cannot even recognize the model. The car passes a bus stop. There a soldier is waiting, same age as our freshman, just back from deployment, waiting to get back home to his family; the same family that couldn’t afford his further education. Looking up, there’s a window cleaner doing his job on a building’s facade. Probably, he is earning minimum wage, just enough to bring food to his family’s table, even risking his life in doing so. At the same time, on the first floor, coming out of the entrance, there is the company’s CEO. He has enough money that even if he quits working now he and three more generations of his family can continue living generously. He gets into his limo and orders his
chauffeur to get going. I’m going to quote Marx here; society does not consist of individuals, but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand. It is clear that these relationships aren’t equivalent and, as a matter of facts, they can achieve colossal disproportions. If we are to change society, it is these relationships that we must begin with. What is the difference between these men? Why is it that when one lacks the basic life necessities, the other can indulge himself in whatever he wishes to have or achieve? The problem we face is that few people have too much, and most people have too little. The gap is broadening rapidly, from generation to generation and this brings inequality. People are not born equal. They are born in a family, in a class, in a destiny, which they cannot control beyond a certain point. We need to change our society, so that everyone gets what he needs and deserves. Our perception of others shouldn’t be governed by their born status. Equal relationships, unaltered perception, equivalent chances of success and distribution based on contribution, maybe that’s what we really need. Only then will the citizens of city X truly be born equal.
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UNited in time
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The story of the United Nations and its duties
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by Christ Ligori (AL)
support, as well as providing humanitarian aid in case of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. Apart of its principal organs, the UN also controls a number of funds, programmes, institutes, specialised agencies, and other bodies, each one operating in an autonomous way but coordinating together with the October 24th, 1945. It has been more than a month UN and each other. There is a total of 15 specialised since the official end of the Second World War, a con- agencies, and many more other bodies among which it flict in which most of the world’s nations participated. is worth mentioning a couple of the most famous oens: The world is devastated, millions fatalities have just the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the happened and the economy is in ruins; the war has United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), affected and destroyed everything that until then was the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United stable. In that moment more than ever before, it was Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organiclear to people that they had to cooperate in order to zation (UNESCO), the World Bank Group (WBG), get over that situation and once again flourish; they and the World Health Organization (WHO). understood that a World War or any similar event must never be allowed to happen again. Originating The UN found it hard to exercise its duties in the years from this wish, the United Nations (UN) is established. following World War II, mostly because of the animosity and disputes between the US and USSR, oth The UN is an international organization containing erwise known as the Cold War. However, even under 193 states and operates on the basis of the United Na- these circumstances, in these years it participated in tions Charter (UNC), which is ratified by most coun- major actions in Korea, helping repel the North Kotries of the world. While its original objectives were rean invasion on South Korea, and in Congo, solving mainly the maintenance of international peace, stabil- the Katanga conflict. Moreover, the creation of the ity and security, its focus has nowadays shifted mostly state of Israel in 1947 is what could be considered as to promotion of human rights, economical and social perhaps UN’s most influential decision in its history.
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The formal dissolution of the USSR in December 1991 draws also the end of the Cold War, and with it, establishes a whole new era for the UN, dominated by a large number of peacekeeping missions all over the world. In the 1990s and early 2000s UN launched operations ranging from South America (Salvadorian Civil War), to Africa (Namibia, post-apartheid South Africa, Sierra Leone Civil War) and later on even on the Asian continent (protection of Kuwait, Afghanistan invasion). It is worth mentioning that the UN has also had failures in some of its deployments, but in the face of the number of conflicts it has solved or prevented, we could say that it has been a positive factor in peacekeeping and the stability of the world as we know it.
ly acting as a peacekeeper and conflict solver in many intra- or international clashes, and then by offering support and assistance in many different locations all over the world. “For their work for a better organized and more peaceful world“ the UN and its seventh Secretary-General Kofi Annan were awarded the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, which serves as a testimony to its effectiveness and its efforts. In the 70 years of history since its creation there has not been a single conflict similar in scale to the Second World War, and we hope there won’t ever be.
Most of the UN’s current peacekeeping missions consist of training, stabilization, support and assistance in areas where it is needed. Most of the UN’s humanitarian work is performed through the before mentioned specialized agencies. In cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict the UN tries to help the affected sides while at the same time working on a solution for the problem at hand. Since its founding date the United Nations have fulfilled its duties and objectives to their utmost best, first-
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An issue concerning us, not only now but always
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The importance of having an open-minded education by Marina Mantsai (AL/GR)
With the rise of civilization in Europe, many philosophers, having realized and completely comprehended the need for innovation, for tackling serious matters and most importantly the need for adapting different educational paths according to each rapidly changing society, eventually drew a conclusion, brief in words but deep in meaning, that all those needs should be fulfilled only by staying united. One of the most fervent advocate of this idea was Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, an educated man, whose biography itself represents a devotion to education and a tendency for radical change in each European country’s relations with its neighbors. Nowadays, all his projects have delivered an authentic recognition worldwide. To his memory and as a sigh of success of his framework, an exchanging program among international students was born under his name. Despite the fundamental reasons behind the creation of EU, it is indeed noticeable the expansion of its aims and the increasing number of actions in different sectors. Since the creation of the EU, one of these endless efforts towards progress is the scheme for improving education through exchanging programs. In 1986 the European Commission proposed the sponsorship for the implementation of a new scheme, the Erasmus Programs, as an exciting opportunity for youngsters to get in touch other countries’ living style and experience the existing cultural diversity Europe is so rich of. However, after the establishment of the proposal,
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many governments, especially France, Germany, and the UK, rejected the idea and refused to financially support it. Although, some conflicts rised in the debating process when some Member States seemed to be completely opposed to this programme, the European Commission in charge of AEGEE accomplished to convince the President of France, Francois Mitterran, to support the project. The following voting procedure favoured the establishment of this programme as we know it now. Every year Erasmus Programs benefit from more and more qualified students to go abroad and directly experience the independence and the multiculturalism present in Europe. Visiting a foreign country, bonding with other people of the same age, but with different backgrounds, meeting new civilizations, provides European youngsters with a whole new life experience with many positive surprises. Moreover, following such international educational paths is indeed an effective way of combating social phenomena of discrimination and racism. Furthermore, the practice of encouraging students working on interest- appealing and inspiring projects leads to a deeper realisation of the importance of spirituality and creativity. Last, but definitely not least, the most essential assent to gain from this project is breaking the barriers and starting to build a more integrated but very different Europe.
Albania and the European Union The past, present and hopes for the future
by Tea Rama (AL)
achieve this goal in 2014 after years of developing a consolidated relationship with the Union. Albania is as close to the EU because it is already an important piece of the puzzle of Europe’s history, by 25 years ago, when Albania was captivated by one of being a country that is already a European state in the most vigorous student-led movement, the most their own constitutional spirit and that has had its impowerful refrain among the people was “We want Al- pact on our continent’s history throughout the years. bania like all of Europe!”. It was more than just a sim- At the same time, it is unfortunately far because the ple slogan used in protests or rallies, it was the dream standard of law implementation, institutional operaof making Albania like Europe, with both civil and tion and political conduct is notably distant from the democratic values. This dream, that was originated by European requirements. thousands of Albanian students, shattered the communist system and gave life to a long path that was Albania’s European integration is an aspiration, a desire of a country which believes that it doesn’t deserve pointing to European integration. to be excluded from the European Union. However, This call was initiated from the fact that Albanians, European integration is much more than a simple desince their Illyrian ancestors and throughout their en- sire; it is an obligation of the political class towards tire history, have been a part of the colourful mosaic the Albanian country and the Albanian people. This of values, tradition, and culture of the European his- is in all aspects a challenge, and it is by far the most difficult one. tory. Nowadays, Albania is a democratic country, a society that is attempting to acquire the standards of other EU Member States, even though there are many problems and challenges to face on the way to do so. For years Albania has been trying to reach the requirements of a EU candidate state, but only managed to
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New technologies, new lives How our daily routine has been affected by progress by Margen Stepa (AL)
you, there was a very good chance that someone else in your family would be on the phone because somehow, for a reason or another, they always were. When someone was on the phone, another person trying to reach you got a busy signal. No call waiting, no voiceTechnology has a big impact in our lives as we have mail, just a busy signal. Call denied. to face it since the moment we open our eyes in the morning and till we go to sleep at night. Technology The way people had to get information on a particis there for us even when we are asleep or when we ular subject was not by checking on the internet and are far away from home and we want to check upon scrolling through the provided links related to your different matters like house robbery, fire emergency or research. At that time, internet did not exist. It also even controlling the babysitter we hired for our chil- meant that, when students had to write school papers, people had to do research in the old-fashioned way, as dren and siblings. in hitting the library with notes and blank paper. Not even too terribly long ago, everyday things like finding a place to eat or reading the news or even how Games? Downloads? Smartphones? In you wanted to we entertained ourselves was completely different. play a game you had to go to your local arcade armed The way to find a specific place to go was not that with pockets full of quarters and play a lot of videogeasy as it is today; people had to stop at gas stations ames standing there in front of a big box among many and ask for directions and use pay phones or look up others. And then you would have gone home with for directions on maps. your empty pockets. Talking about the phone, most people had one phone number and it was valid for every member of your household. If you were waiting for someone to call
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Today, we can wake up in the morning with an alarm in our smartphone that would use a wake up phase that ends at your desired time. During this phase, this smart alarm will monitor signals from your body during the night to wake you up softly, when you are in the lightest possible sleep state. With another app that you can download in your smartphone right now, you can use your phone camera as a heart rate monitor thanks to an innovative technology which tracks your blood flow in real-time and gives you a direct and reliable measurement of your heart rate.
on their phones, increasing of the 256% over the last year. In 2011, American teenage girls sent about 3,952 texts per month while boys sent about 2,815 texts per month. It is not still clear what we have to expect from technology in the upcoming decades, but it does not seem a distant idea to see robots that will massage us and at the same time feed us while we watch our favorite TV. The doubts now will reside if this would ever do more harm than good.
Communication has always being important for the human kind and nowadays, communicating with someone that is on the other side of the planet, is easier than ever before. We can even send pictures to our loved ones, work together with the same document in real-time and play games together and a lot more other things to do. In 2014, 99% of all Americans own a cellphone and among them 81% used their phones to send or receive text messages and 73% used it for email or video chatting. In the third quarter of 2011, teens aged between 13-17 used an average of 320MB of data per month
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The full half of the glass
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How social media affect our lives by Dafne Bajraktari AL)
One of the many positive functions of social media is their use for the organisation and coordination of activities, events, or groups that voice opinions on different subjects, raising awareness amongst a wide audience. Social media are based on active participation: users participate in activities and discussions on a page, they upload and register, edit and create information in all possible forms. This gives space for one’s creativity to roam free. Young people who use social media to share content such as music, films, photography, or writing, They are basically a convergence of all media forms, should know the legitimacy they are giving to the authereby offering diversity and efficacy in finding and dience, so that in the moment they decide to publish, spreading information. As it is easy to imagine, social they are well-informed on what to publish and how to media have a wide impact on our daily life and we can do it online. benefit from them from many different perspectives. There are many ways to preserve authenticity and privacy. When such options are given, we cannot blame Social media enhance debating skills in a local, nation- social media for privacy rights violations. al or international context, which helps users develop their way of expression in public. In fact, social skills Apart from the support that is given to creativity, abilare very important for our every day life; they serve ities to talk about the ownership and management of to initiate, develop, and to maintain friendships. They information is also being developed. Social media are establish a reliable connection in a network, perhaps designed to support the users to work, think, and act even as an opinion leader. together as a group. According to the Pew Research Centre, more than 73% of people online are active on social media. But what should we call with the name of social media? Essentially, it is a plethora of pages, which enables the interaction between people worldwide.
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Nowadays, being able to adapt more quickly to technology, new services and facilities, is assessed as a very useful skill and can facilitate formal and informal They also encourages discoveries. If anyone is inter- learning. Many of the services encouragee writing ested in something, truly anything, it is very likely that skills, including interpretation, evaluation, and consocial media will provide the requested information. textualisation. For years people have been discussing on the functionality, effectivity and usage of social meUsers can also create groups sharing specific informa- dia, especially when it comes to the youth. tion, however unusual at times. In that sense, social media can help young people de- We often hear that social media are a pure waste of velop their interests, and even find other people with time, that they are assimilating privacy and communication skills and they are not serious. But why should whom they share what they are passionate about. we focus on the dark side? The glass is also half full Moreover, they help young people with ideas and in- and no, this is not an optimistic point of view, it is troduce them to new paths that would no be discov- purely rational. ered otherwise. They also deepen their existing assessment and help broaden their horizons. We are all aware of the effects social media can have, but if we use it properly and efficiently, very little can Becoming part of a social network for the first time go wrong. It would be like a rollercoaster that only is comparable to a solo trip to an unknown city; one goes up. preferably has enough information to feel safe in this new environment, but it requires flexibility and independence. To manage an online presence, as well as being able to be effectively interact online is a skill, which is gaining importance in the labour market.Â
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The EU: more or less than twenty eight countries Should the EU continue to expand or is it better to listen to the Eurosceptic parties? by Mateo Kuka(AL)
The European Union is nowadays one of the biggest and most prestigious unions in the world, with its twenty eight Member States cooperating to keep. Not only it represents a politico-economic union but it also consists of a group of countries that care about social and cultural exchange between its citizens. Based upon that fact, there are a lot of institutions that help in this joint effort. However, the European Union is not only interested in dealing with the prosperity and well-being of its Member States. It has continuously tried to help countries that are located in the European continent to actually improve their economy and, after they meet the necessary criteria, join the Union if they wish so. It is important to notice that a wide number of new members added to the big European family in the recent years Unfortunately, in 2008 the whole world underwent a severe financial crisis, which is considered by many economists to have been the worst one since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It threatened the total collapse of large financial institutions, which was prevented by the bailout of banks by national governments, but stock markets still dropped worldwide. In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. The crisis played a significant role in the failure of key businesses, declines in consumer wealth estimated in trillions of U.S. dollars, a downturn in economic activity leading to the 2008–2012 global recession and contributing to the European sovereign-debt crisis.
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The crisis, however, was not only financial, but also social. It actually kept expanding and affected the judgment of many citizens of the EU. They started feeling disappointed by the management of their national governments and started seeking for alternative solutions. This is where the populist parties came into play. They took advantage of the difficult situations building up on the economic crisis, having a propaganda based on a more solid economy and solid. In the recent elections, many populist parties claimed big victories in countries like Greece, Great Britain and France. Alongside with their victories, they claimed the right of high-rate-percentage representation in the European Parliament. Since then, a huge wave of eurosceptism started spreading and it was willingly promoted by these parties, demanding either an immediate interruption of the EU’s further expansion, or even worse, the dissolution of the Union itself. Their argument is the austerity measures applied in many countries haven’t managed to overcome the crisis yet. Taking into account the fact that the voice of the eurosceptic parties cannot be overheard, the EU itself has officially decided that for the next five years the Union won’t expand anymore. All the candidate countries that are aspiring to join in the future are given i more time to make changes and meet the necessary criteria for their entrance int the EU. This decision will also give time to the EU to estimate the impact that new members will have, thus being prepared for a future scenario both in social and economic welfare of the whole area.
Slowing down the busiest men An interview with the Head Organisers of the session by Daan Brouwer (NL) In my opinion we should send the delegate back to the hotel to pack and go home (giggles and laughs) but I All attendees of the 8th National Selection Conference don’t know, we will definitely think of something emof European Youth Parliament Albania owe this unique barrassing for the delegate to do. But of course I hope experience to the people in charge of making this ses- that no delegates will be so irresponsible to fall asleep. sion a reality. We spoke with the Head Organizers (HO) about preparing the session and their goals for the rest We also had time to briefly catch up with our other of the week. Head Organiser Kristi Kadzadej. We first spoke to Elvis Kokoshi who was bursting at the What do you hope to have accomplished by the seams with excitement and was clearly working hard to end of the session? coordinate the activities of the organising team. The history behind the session is that a dear friend of How excited are you for the session? us, Atjon Zhiti started organising the event, but unfortunately he is no longer with us. He told me all about his I am incredibly excited, I have been preparing the ses- dreams for the session and I hope to realise that in his sion for about six months so I have been looking for- memory. He wanted the session to be unlike any other Albanian session, the delegates academic work to be of ward to this day for a long time. outstanding level and for there to be no organisational So was it a good feeling when the delegates ar- hiccups. rived? Do you agree with the statement that a good Yes, it is good but also intimidating. It is a little bit scary compromise leaves everyone unhappy? too, because I am responsible for around 120 people and if something goes wrong it would feel like it is all A proper compromise should be good for everyone by my fault. So I’m doing my best and trying to make it all definition. However, you cannot get all of your ideas work. into a resolution and you need to listen to others and accept their point of view. My advice to the delegates What is the biggest tip you can give a new is to listen to others and try to understand the merits of EYPer, what mindset do they require? their argument Try to be open minded, form new relationships and ba- What should the consequences of a delegate falling sically have fun. The academic work within the Euro- asleep during work be? pean Youth Parliament is very important, but it cannot I am sure the chair will have something fun. However, function without social and friendly people. I hope that no matter what part of the session the delIn case a delegate falls asleep during work what egates miss out on, they will be missing out on a lot of do you think the consequences of his actions fun. should be?
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