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Voicing the Future: E&M at the Young European Council 2014
Written by Giorgio Nicoletti and Petya Yankova |
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Photo courtesy of Young European Leadership
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Move over MEPs, there's a new assembly in town! Last week, Giorgio Nicoletti and Petya Yankova attended the Young European Council 2014 on behalf of E&M. Here they provide a run-down of the main recommendations put forward by delegates.
Brussels calling
Imagine a group of brilliant future leaders, from almost every part of the European Union, gathering in Brussels to negotiate recommendations and ultimately influence EU institutions. This is what happened between 20 and 23 October, when the Young European Council, organised by the up-and-coming NGO Young European Leadership, took place, with astonishing results. Sustainable development in cities, education and employment, digital revolution and technologies were the topics for discussion at an event which attracted more than 100 young people.
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Photo: Christian Diemer
Artificial waterfalls cascade down the slope at the former residence of toppled Ukrainian
president Vyktor Yanukovych
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In this fourth installment of E&M's exclusive series about the current situation in Ukraine "On the Brink", Christian Diemer takes a trip to the former presidential residence in Mezhyhir'ya, not far from the Ukrainian capital.
A girl in a headscarf is waiting where the buses leave for the president's former residence. "No, I am not going to the residence, I live in Mezhyhir'ya." Ayya, 28, is a refugee from Donetsk. "I always wanted to live in Kyiv once in my life. And my family has come with me. So I am OK with that." Ayya is studying to become a dentist, but the university in Donetsk is no longer functioning. She moved to Kyiv just in time to register for the winter semester, which began a couple of weeks ago. "Well, how do you think the situation is over there?! Terrible." And whose side is she on? Instead of an answer, Ayya points at her backpack, where a blue and yellow ribbon is fixed.
We like Europe. We like each other. And we’d like you to join us on our quest to redefine young European journalism.
E&M began producing transnational journalism written by young Europeans for young Europeans back in 2008. Since then we've come a long way. We've published 26 regular editions of our online magazine, won a Charlemagne Youth Prize, held a continent-wide Young Journalist Award, launched a blog and organised a series of projects, ranging from debates and journalism workshops. We want to build on this, but for that we will need reinforcements: more writers to add to our list of over 100 contributors from every corner Europe, plus at least one more editor to help steer the E&M ship.
You don't necessarily need to have any journalistic experience to apply to work with E&M (although it's great if you do, of course). We're more interested in your passion for Europe and the ideas you have about contributing to a personal, transnational dialogue between young people across the continent.
On the Brink: Pray for Ukraine, Strive for Ukraine
Written by Christian Diemer |
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Photo: Christian Diemer
Just half a year ago, buildings were burning and over 80 people were shot dead on Kyiv's
Independence Square.
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As part of an excursion organised by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Christian Diemer travels to Kyiv and meets with various figures from Ukrainian civil society, all now trying to come to terms with a post-Euromaidan world.
A return to Kyiv
Vast, elegant, full of contrasts, an ocean of green and blue with golden domes in between – this is Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, home to nearly three million inhabitants. A futuristic mix of torn-down concrete barracks, crumbling stucco façades, mirroring glass towers, some with opulent pyramid or concave roofs or bridges between each other. Seventeen per cent of Ukraine's GDP is generated here, with city-centre rents no lower than in downtown Munich. Wide as an ocean, the river Dnipro divides the city. Standing on the riverside promenade, with the roar of Porsches and Ladas, Hummers and Kamaz behind, it is hard to believe that beyond the green, tree-covered island to which the metro is heading, there is yet another river branch to cross before one even reaches the other bank.
More...
They say a picture paints a thousand words, so we've set out to discover what photography might be able to tell us about today's Europe.
Here at E&M, we don't just want to know what young Europeans think about Europe, we also want to find out how they see and feel the continent. As part of the newly-revamped Sixth Sense, we have introduced a photo competition called Europe Through a Lens and are publishing a selection of our readers' photographic work on a regular basis. All you have to do is submit images that you think best represent our European theme of the month.
This time around we've selected the theme of "European sport" and are excited to see what you come up with. Entries can be of anything from football matches to cheese rolling, horse racing to athletics – it's all down you and your powers of imagination.
On the Brink: The Silent Independence Day
Written by Christian Diemer |
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Photo: Christian Diemer
Hutsul woman and Adonis on the Ploshcha Rynok in L'viv
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The second part of Christian Diemer's series On the Brink takes us to the heart of celebrations for the Ukrainian national holiday in L'viv. With Ukrainian patriotism stronger than ever, Christian is surprised to find himself at a muted and pensive Independence Day party...
A Silent commemoration
A large map of Ukraine welcomes the newcomer at L'viv's train station: "Plan-scheme of the railway connections of Ukraine". The map, framed by majestic Corinthian columns and pillars, is lit up sharply by a flickering advertisement on the neighbouring wall. However, recent events are not reflected within it. The tangle of orange lines still interweaves with Crimea. Luhans'k and Donetsk in the east appear as well-connected as Uzhhorod and Chernivtsi in the west. And yet the map, lit up and down over and over again, does appear in a different light. Red digits over the station entrance display the date: 24.8. Ukraine is to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of its independence from Russia. Or rather, it isn’t...
Pre-autumnal rain is drizzling, the morning passers-by walk around busily, sleepily. If it were not for the hundreds of blue and yellow flags that can be found on almost every building and car, one would hardly notice the national holiday. Even in the centre, where I seek shelter from the rain in a tasteful, Viennese-style coffee house, there is not a lot to be seen. In one corner of the Ploshcha Rynok [market square], there is an art installation made from rectangular glass panes: historic photographs of Hutsul people layered over UNESCO-listed façades, washed-out memories of an ephemeral yet subconsciously manifest past. In front of the Adonis fountain, a man with a Cossack plaid proudly poses for his friend's camera. Some people walk around with flags or blue and yellow ribbons, dressed in vyshyvanki, traditional embroidered clothing. "It is still early," apologises a passer-by. "And it's raining."
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Photo: © Bio Illusion, courtesy of Miloslav Šmídmajer
Young talents Petr Šimčák and Jan Maršal in Pojedeme k moři
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Cafe Cinema is returning to Sixth Sense! In the first edition of this new run, E&M's Frances Jackson reviews Pojedeme k moři, a ground-breaking Czech film written and directed by actor Jiří Mádl.
At a time when many critics have been despairing of the state of Czech feature films and finding only documentaries to their taste, there comes along a film that not only bucks the trend, but also seems to have re-written the rulebook.
Pojedeme k moři (English title: To See the Sea) was released in April of this year and quickly became one of the biggest hits of the summer, bagging a number of domestic and international festival prizes along the way. Both young and old have flocked to the cinemas of the Czech Republic to watch this unconventional comedy, which tells the story of Tomáš, an 11-year-old scamp with bold ambitions to become the next Miloš Forman.
Armed with just a digital camera – a birthday present from his parents – and a nose for intrigue, Tomáš sets out to produce his own documentary about life in the southern Bohemian city of České Budějovice. With the help of his equally mischievous best friend Haris, he uncovers a number of mysteries and comes to appreciate that all is not as it seems – particularly when it comes to relationships.
Good Reads – From the far reaches of the EU to the Vatican
Written by Diana VonnakWith individual selections from our editors, Good Reads provides a regular run-down of best and most thought-provoking European journalism available online. This week, Diána Vonnák shares some intriguing thoughts on illegal immigration to the EU, fashion and the public role of intellectuals.
Diána, Managing editor
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Fortress Europe
Lampedusa did not change EU policies regarding asylum seekers and refugees and neither have similar subsequent, almost daily tragedies. Foreign policy has been a consistently hot topic for months, yet Syria, IS and the troubles in West Africa have clouded our public awareness of the unquestionable need of thousands to get out of miseries beyond imagination.
We had a Lampedusa-related pick from Veronica in the last edition of Good Reads, but I could not resist starting my list with another take on Fortress Europe. There are two aspects of this recent Spiegel Online article that make it stand out from the majority of similar advocacy pieces: its insights into the work of Frontex (the organisation that patrols EU borders) and the geographical scope, including the Hungarian-Serbian frontier and the border between Greece and Turkey.
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