farewell

THE

Issue 3 - February 16th, 2014

session

editorialTHEPUZZLE

2

Here it is. This is last piece of the puzzle. Contrary to what I thought at the begin-ning, this isn’t the most exciting part of the trip. Goodbyes have never been among my strengths. I have to say that despite having spent most of my time inside the press room bunker, the last five days have not been something that I’ve felt external to.

The common saying states that whenever life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. Weilburg has taught me that whenever life gives you pieces (opportunities), you have to construct something with them. Furthermore, and as well as for many delegates, Weilburg is also a first time for me. A couple of years from now, when I look back to Weilburg2014, I’ll remember the session as the first time that I had the chance to lead a media team.

Starting from Sophie, Fatih and David, I want to thank the whole organisers and chairs team for your hard and incredible work. Also, thank you delegates for being our audi-ence. Last but not least, thank you Veronika, Emiljo, Barlas, Caroline, Iina, Can, Panos, Giulia, Seraina and Sabrina for providing me with such a unique and enriching experi-ence. Thank you all for being part of Weilburg 2014’s puzzle!

Juan Estheiman Amaya (ES)

contentTHEPUZZLE

4

5

6

8

10

12

14

Committee winter olympics by Iina Lappalainen (FI)

An official troubleshooting by Veronika Datzer (DE), Seraina Petersen (CH) and Giulia Bandera (IT)

A life-changing decisionby Seraina Petersen (CH) and Giulia Bandera (IT)

Chair’s factsby Caroline Widmer (CH) and Panagiotis Chatzistratis (GR)

The unusual suspectsby Iina Lappalainen (FI) and Emiljo Jazxhi (AL)

EYP Potential by Veronika Datzer (DE) and Can Elvanlıoğlu (TR)

The session in numbersby Barlas Türkyılmaz (TR) and Can Elvanlıoğlu (TR)

3

sessionTHEPUZZLE

three4

European Young Potential

by Veronika Datzer (DE) and Can Elvanlıoğlu (TR)

For many of you, dear delegates, this has been the first acquaintance with EYP. Regional ses-sions are commonly the beginning of this sto-ry. However, not being selected is not the end of EYP. Therefore, we want to encourage every single one of you to keep your spirits high what-ever the final result might be.

The European Youth Parliament is a non-govern-mental organisation, which was founded in 1987. Including 5000 active participants, it reaches ad-olescents in 36 countries. Yet, EYP is more than an organisation that encourages political educa-tion. It implies critical thinking, long-lasting friend-ships, intercultural exchange and infinite fun.

Regionals are the beginning, yet entering EYP is not necessarily facilitated by the competitive atmosphere of a regional session. In fact, after Weilburg 2014, only three school delegations will be selected and thus have the opportunity to at-tend the National Selection Conference that will take place in Potsdam this May. This may lead to frustration amongst rejected delegates, as they might feel that there will be no second opportu-nity to enter the EYP community, despite wanting to stay active.

However, speaking from personal experience, we can only urge you to stay in EYP, even if your first session was not as successful as you wished it was. In fact, there are many ways to join EYP. For instance, there are several forums organised every year which are rather accessible. In 2014, EYP Germany will organise two European Youth Forums, yet there other ones taking place all over Europe. A forum is highly international and partic-ularly emphasises cultural exchange.

As you might have noticed, there also exists the possibility to be active by embodying other roles than the one of a delegate. Organisers are re-sponsible for future sessions, for they provide the framework for them to happen. The Media Team covers the session by means of newspapers, vid-eos and photos and therefore creates memories to look back to. Furthermore, the Chairs team is

essential for every session: By guiding delegates, they have the opportunity to support every in-dividual in their resolution process and critical thinking.

As mentioned above, EYP is more than an NGO. It is a community with different people and diverse ideals, bonded by the one thing that unifies them: We are European Dreamers. For us, it has been the two year and three years respectively since we started EYP. Although we have neither been selected throughout our first event, we found a way to get involved in this big family, and would wish you to form part of it as well. •

four5

sessionTHEPUZZLE

Organisers are the base of EYP. Without them, Weilburg 2014 would not exist. They provide coffee, organise the evening programmes and deliver pizza at late night hours. We know what they do, but what do they actually think about the other officials?

Fatih, one of the head-organisers, is the perfect person to spend an entertaining evening with. From all of the officials, he’s known as the quick-est person to start the party. If you have the priv-ilege of hanging out with him, enjoy the one in a lifetime opportunity!

According to the organisers, when he’s not hunt-ing down the gangster, Martin is the most likely to be enjoying some hours of good sleep. He’s also known for having the most original haircut. In fact, a birdy told us that his moustache even received a Valentine’s card.

The chairs’ team is very diverse and unique. Gus-taf Westin, the chair of INTA, was voted as the most likely to be future president of the European Commission. When informed of this, he was very flattered and expressed his plans of rewarding EYP with its own international media campaign, in a distant future. He will also provide the EU with huge amounts of Köttbullar and Swedish cookies.

We unsurprisingly discovered that Sammy is par-ticularly popular amongst the organisers. After an amazing welcome party, he became the ses-sion’s new Travolta. If there’s any flaw in Sam-my’s character is that “he’s sexy and he knows it.”

The Media Team also has some interesting peo-ple. Whilst Emiljo was voted as the hottest offi-cial, Juan is considered to be the smoothest.

With a perfect mixture of vida loca and kindness, he reflexes the perfect balance between chill-ness, humour and efficiency. Humble as always, he considers himself to be “happy and eclectic”.

Giulia is our Facebook addict. She spends every minute of her free time on Facebook. Her special-ity are the so called selfies. To hide her addiction, she always blames her iPhone for posting them automatically.

According to Philipp, Weilburg2014 hosts EYP Germany’s most hipster members. When in-formed of this, juror Christian Macht was sur-prised but replied with a rather revealing giggle.

With their verdicts, the organisers have revealed the great amount of diversity found in the offi-cials` team. After having spent months preparing the session, who can possibly know more about the rest of officials than them? •

An official troubleshootingby Giulia Bandera (IT), Seraina Petersen (CH)

and Veronika Datzer (DE)

three6

Name: TimonAge: 18 yearsStudies: Economics and philosophyMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: At-tending this sessionWhat distinguishes him from other chairs: From a scale from 1 to 10 his sex-appeal would defi-nitely get a 35Perfect partner: His perfect partner would be him-selfFavourite body part: Belly

Name: GustafAge: 18 years oldStudies: High schoolMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Sleeping every night for 5 hours during a sessionWhat distinguishes him from other chairs: His mysterious pastAddicted to coffee? Does not like coffeePerfect partner: OnurFavourite body part: Arms

Name: ErdemAge: 19 years oldStudies: LawMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Pre-siding EYP Turkey What distinguishes him from other chairs: Cha-rismaPerfect partner: AnnaFavourite body part: Ears

Name: AnnaAge: 17 years oldStudies: High schoolMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: A pose during her defence speech in MunichWhat distinguishes her from other chairs: Looks like Heidi KlumPerfect partner: LuciaFavourite body part: Tongue

Name: LenaAge: 20 years oldStudies: International studies focused on AfricaMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Hav-ing funWhat distinguishes her from other chairs: Looks like she comes from Azerbaijan Perfect partner: Delia

Chair’s factsby Caroline Widmer (CH) and Panagiotis Chatzistratis (GR)

Name: IpekAge: 21 yearsStudies: Psychology and International RelationsMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: In Romanshorn, during the President’s opening speech, he texted her saying that she had been his source of inspiration.What distinguishes her from other chairs: Having a very dominant characterAddicted to coffee? Coffee on a right amountPerfect partner: Sophie Hall (as a chair)Favourite body part: Legs

Name: LukasAge: 20 yearsStudies: Economics, politics and philosophyMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Get-ting used to cold showersWhat distinguishes him from other chairs: Look-ing like Luke SkywalkerFavourite body part: HandsPerfect partner: Ipek

Name: OnurAge: 17 yearsStudies: High schoolMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Play-ing laser tags with an officials’ team six months ago.What distinguishes him from other chairs: His smileAddicted to coffee? YesPerfect partner: Ipek, because of her cheerfulnessFavourite body part: Hands

sessionTHEPUZZLE

four7

Favourite body part: Laughing wrinkles

Name: LuciaAge: 19 years oldStudies: Liberal Arts and SciencesMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: De-fence Speech during first RegionalsWhat distinguishes her from other chairs: Sexy Librarian lookAddicted to coffee? No Perfect partner: Her co-chair, ErdemFavourite body part: Nose

Name: KokaAge: 18 years oldStudies: Cultural Studies and PhilosophyMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Re-ceiving the EYP-medal of honour from the execu-tive director of EYPAddicted to coffee? NoWhat distinguishes him from other chairs: The fact that he always woke up last during the ses-sionPerfect partner: His co-chair LenaFavourite body part: An over-hang on his left ear

Name: BarisAge: 19 years Studies: High schoolMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: An-swering a round of questions really quickly and to the pointAddicted to coffee? Tee-personWhat distinguishes him from other chairs: over enthusiasmPerfect partner: AnnaFavourite body part: Eyebrows

Name: ChrissyAge: 18 years Studies: Politics and lawMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Smashing her face against the pressroom door yesterdayAddicted to coffee? CoffeePerfect partner: All are loveable peopleFavourite body part: Muddy coloured eyes

Name: LeonaAge: 19 yearsStudies: Political science

Memorable EYP moment/accomplishment: First sum-up speech as a delegateAddicted to coffee? YesWhat distinguishes her from other chairs: Worked a lot and slept only a few hoursPerfect partner: LukasFavourite body part: Eyes

Name: DeliaAge: 22 yearsStudies: Social sciences and musicologyMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Be-ing an organiser of Zurich ISWhat distinguishes her from other chairs: Smiles a lotAddicted to coffee? No, it makes her nervousPerfect partner: LeonaFavourite body part: Left hand

Name: SammyAge: 20 yearsStudies: Economics Memorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Sur-vive in EYPWhat distinguishes him from other chairs: Sur-prising personPerfect partner: TimonFavourite body part: Brain

Name: ManfrediAge: 20 yearsStudies: EconomicsMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: Cooking pasta for 25 people in a bunker with gi-ant army potsWhat distinguishes him from other chairs: Mov-ing and jumping a lotAddicted to coffee? Does not drink coffeePerfect partner: Gustaf because of the way he is dressedFavourite body part: Hair

Name: SädeAge: 19 yearsStudies: High schoolMemorable EYP moment/accomplishment: First attack speech three years agoAddicted to coffee? YesPerfect partner: BarisFavourite body part: Back •

three8

The unusual suspectsby Iina Lappalainen (FI) and Emiljo Jazxhi (AL)

Name: David PlahlAge: 18Crime committed: head-organising Weilburg 2014Punishment: Due to some personal differences between the negotiators, David stated that the most difficult part before the session was arrang-ing the catering. During the session which turned out to be a crime, the most stress-ful part was however the General Assembly. How did you get involved in this organised crime?The criminal has clearly stated the exact date when he got involved in this organisation. Everything started two years ago at the Regional Session in Traunstein 2012. It is indeed obvious, that the crim-inal got addicted to the organisation rather quickly.Why did you commit this crime?David claims that the idea of this crime started soon after his first touch with the organisation. The idea had grown in his mind and when he read that the call for head-organisers had opened, he did not hesitate to apply together with Fatih.What else do you do in your daily life besides committing crimes of such art? David is a great fan of football, highlighting Ham-burger SV as his favourite team. Besides EYP, he is involved in real politics. Consequently, he has supported political campaigns and regularly at-tends Youth committees as a chairperson. We’re quite sure that the suspect has a future in politics.Your advice for fellow criminals, who plan to com-mit such crimes as head-organising in the future:David Plahl officially announced to be guilty for head-organising this session. He urges del-egates to continue in EYP whatever. Even if they are not selected, David encourages every-one to apply for different events. At the same time he encourages everybody to get in touch with EYP Germany which provides numer-ous opportunities for interested youngsters.

Name: Fatih SeyfiAge: 19Crime committed: head-organising Weilburg 2014

Punishment:Like David, Fatih mentions catering issues, budget proposal differences and bargaining meal pric-es with Mrs. Grede, as the most difficult part of the session. The gap between the prices offered by Mrs. Grede and the ones demanded by them made the whole situation unfeasible. To put a solution to the problem, breakfast and dinner were entirely arranged by the organisers themselves.How did you get involved in this organised crime? Everything started when Fatih joined his school delegation together with David, in order to at-tend Traunstein 2012. Both of them were then selected to participate in the National Selection Conference of EYP Germany 2012 in Berlin. Af-ter having attended the International Session in Munich, he became more and more acquaint-ed with the world of EYP Germany. After some talks with Miss Franziska Maier, the president of EYP Germany, Fatih became accepted to com-mit the crime and organise this session. His other half, David, was instantly attracted by this possibility of getting to where we are today. Fur-thermore, he is openly accepting the fact that he has quite enjoyed his time in this rather un-usual organisation with likeminded individuals. What else do you do in your daily life be-sides committing crimes of such art?Fatih admits playing tennis and reading news-papers in his free time. One can easily find the similarities between his life and famous ear-lier criminals. He is interested in politics and history. Moreover, he is a politically active youth member of the SPD, a German politi-cal party. As those of his type quite often do, Fatih enjoys spending time with his friends. Your advice towards fellow criminals, who plan to commit such crimes in the future: As a forever loyal criminal, Fatih can only suggest getting involved in different NGOs that develop one’s personal interests. EYP can be an organi-sation to so, but there are many others around. After finishing this interrogatory, Fatih ap-proaches me and states that his arm still hurts, but that tomorrow the truth about what really happened shall be unveiled.•.

four9

sessionTHEPUZZLE

three10

sessionTHEPUZZLE

A life-changing decision: interview with the ses-sion Presidentby Seraina Petersen (CH) and Giulia Ban-dera (IT)

Why did you decide to do EYP in the first place?

“Starting with EYP was a quite random decision. I’ve always been interested in debating and poli-tics”, Sophie says, reminiscing about how a friend of hers posted a link on Facebook about forming a delegation for the Swiss nationals.

How do you remember your first EYP session?In the accommodation of her first EYP session, Sophie was looking at posters presenting the of-ficials. She was quite surprised to read that one of them claimed that EYP had changed his life. “I thought, well, that’s a bit much! And look at me now…”

Which advice would you give to a delegate who has not been selected but wants to stay in-volved?“First of all, delegates should get in touch with EYP Germany, which is one of the most presti-gious national committees, organising numer-ous events every year”, Sophie says, encouraging proactive behaviour. EYP Germany also organis-es events outside the session structure, such as trainings and forums.

Which were your expectations before coming to Weilburg and to which extent have they been fulfilled?“It was pretty terrifying”, she smiles. “In the end everything worked out perfectly and all officials’ teams have done a great job.”

Which skills that you gathered in EYP do you think will be useful for your future?Practical and concrete skills that Sophie gained through organising will help her to a great extent in the future. However, the personal skills that she has acquired are much more important to her. “The age at which you usually start with EYP is a really interesting one, especially for gaining confidence and self-awareness. Communication and working with groups will definitely be helpful for the future”.

How has your life changed since you started being involved in EYP?“I don’t even know where to start…” She has been getting more confident and comfortable with taking responsibility. Here in Weilburg, the biggest chal-lenge was to try and be there for every team. “I have also had the chance to travel a lot and have friends all over Europe”, Sophie emphasizes. She has also become more aware and more emotional about po-litical issues abroad, such as the recent happenings in Turkey and Ukraine, having friends in the respec-tive countries. “The frame of reference is generally bigger for EYP people”, she says.

What would significantly improve EYP?“It would be a big step for EYP internationally to be able to cover all the travel costs of officials in or-der to enable attendance at sessions further away.” Sophie knows that a lot of EYPers study and work at the same time in order to finance their active in-volvement.

How important are friendships in EYP?“I met some of my closest friends in EYP and I am sure we will stay friends for a long time, because we share the same perspective on many things.” Sophie assures that you can also stay friends with people who are not from your home country even when just seeing them sporadically. “These friends have become a part of my “real” life, too, because the more you get involved in EYP, the less the two worlds are separated.”

On a final and less serious note, as you are rep-resenting Switzerland in Germany, which do you think is the funniest word in Swiss German?(After grinning and thinking for a long time) “I really like the word for little kids in Basel dialect, binggies.”

Thank you for taking your time and we wish you all the best Sophie! •

four11

three12

If committee topics were part of the Win-ter Olympics #Sochi14by Iina Lappalainen (FI)

AFCO IAFCO I has been debating about democratic le-gitimacy. Taking a look at Sochi Winter Olympics, there is one sport which, according to athletes and media, has lacked democracy. After the first snow-boarding competition, the athletes accused the jury of evaluating the competitors unfairly. Amongst all, one of the races was especially controversial. Maybe AFCO I could help out with this problem and by suggest a democratic evaluation system to the Olympic snowboarding to avoid negative image in the media.

EMPL IEMPL I has been discussing about demographic changes in the agricultural sector. How can we pro-mote these jobs amongst younger generations? EMPL I would perfectly embody one specific Olym-pic Sport played in Sochi. If you watch curling, the average age of its athletes is quite superior com-pared to that of other sports. How could EMPL I promote curling as a hobby amongst European youth and therefore ensure the generational trans-mission of this Olympic tradition?

CULTIf we look at Culture and Education broadly; they are true ambassadors of the Olympic spirit. Their objective is to unite people, regardless of the polit-ical conflicts between them. In this session, CULT was discussing about the civil acceptation of mon-etary reforms in order to avoid further social disillu-sion. Maybe through Sochi 2014, people will forget about such things and become united.

SEDEDefence and a common military body; these have been key words for SEDE during the whole session. These issues are important when debating about global peace, but a good defence is also essen-tial in other areas. Ice-hockey is one of the most popular sports in Sochi. Some of the world’s finest

defenders have gathered in Sochi to represent their countries’ colours. With such outstanding debates, probably even famous players such as Shea Weber might want some advice from SEDE.

INTAINTA has been debating about the problems related to food importing, its price and the hygienic guar-antees that it offers. Unfortunately, illegal nutrition-al supplies are quite common amongst athletes. A high number of anti-doping controls will take place during the Games. How would INTA react on dop-ing production and other sport nutrition? Does dop-ing really have a negative environmental food print?

ECONCombining old and new? ECON has been talking about how the ECB is going to handle two differ-ent tasks, due to the future launch of the SSM. This is exactly what we see in Nordic Combined; the combination of two different sports, skiing and ski jumping. Why make everything so complicated when we can follow the harmonious nature of Nor-dic Combined?

EMPL IILooking at EMPL II’s resolution, this committee definitely knows what downhill skiing is about. So-chi 2014 has again proven how only a few coun-tries are able to succeed at downhill skiing. EMPL II would make it easier for downhill-skiers outside the Alp-zone or the USA, to become top athletes.

AFETThe agricultural partnership between China and the EU; how to make things work between these two heavyweights? Figure skating requites a partner-ship based in trust and communication. In Sochi we have seen some spectacular performances by beautiful couples. Could AFET accomplish such complicity between China and EU?

AFCOAFCO II has been discussing problems related to Euroscepticism. How should the EU respond to it? How could AFCO II help reveal the truth and dis-solve scepticism around the Sochi2014 for Rus-sia’s issues around the environment and human rights? How can we assure that the foresaid scep-ticism doesn’t affect the athletes’ performance? •

four13

sessionTHEPUZZLE

SESSION in NUMBERSby Barlas Türkyılmaz (TR), Caroline Widmer (CH), Can Elvanlıoğlu (TR)

14

sessionTHEPUZZLE

three15four

Sitting on the floor and enjoying the well-deserved rest after long discussions, some delegates ac-cepted to share their thoughts about the session with me. Most importantly, they commented on fellow delegates who they got to know in the course of these past days.

In fact, all impressions were highly positive. Al-though, I fear that this statement may decrease the article’s controversies that some readers desire, it has to be mentioned that the EYP spir-it entirely was maintained. Marlon Zimmerman (EMPL II) stated that Archil Parulava(EMPL II), one of the Georgian delegates, is one of the fun-niest guys he has ever met. In total, EMPL seems to have some of the kindest of delegates I have met so far. According to Sophia Eckerth (AFCO I), also Ella Gemünd (EMPL II) is really open-mind-ed and Sophia feels that by getting to know her, she has found a genuine friend. We certainly wish that this friendship persists.

After landing in the chamber of AFCO I, I meet Valentin Hromadnik who was purely amazed by Leonard Castelli’s (AFET) convincing skills. Among the AFCO I delegates, one could easily recognise that Oliver Senn is one of the most at-tractive delegates so far. Comments of both, Em-ily Ufken (CUL T) and Parashqevi Pandazi(Jane) (AFCO I) describe Oliver as active, well-informed, and really engaged in debates. The interview went even further, thus unfolding the fact that his girl-friend missed him on Valentine’s Day. I can only suggest they will attend Oliver’s next EYP session together.

Afterwards, I joined ECON where I met some other wonderful delegates. For instance, I approached Yejin Kim, who immediately emphasised how much she enjoyed the night events of this ses-sion. I strongly agree and I can therefore only thank our organisers for providing this cheerful programme. When asked, Aurelia Siegfried from ECON believed that Yejin had an exceptionally good taste concerning male actors.

Another part of my discourse with the delegates involved revealing their favourite part of the ses-sion up to now and their favourite teambuilding game. All, Carla Schäfer(CULT), Gioia Bonatter (CULT) and Isabella Stebler (INTA) were most-ly entertained by the Ninja Game. Carla further expressed a rather uncommon opinion - she en-joyed committee work much more than team-building. Right when I was wondering, whether there was only one popular teambuilding game, I recalled the now infamous Yejin who was very fond of Hi-Ha-Ho.

Contented with the material I collected in such a short period of time, I certainly hope that those of you, who have not been involved in this modest article, do not feel neglected and envy our char-acters’ temporary fame. •

sessionTHEPUZZLE

V.I.D (Very Important Delegates)

by Emiljo Jazxhi (AL)

gefördert von:

Kompetenz + Energie

StadtwerkeWeilburg