dimensions.3rd National Selection Session of EYP Russia - Kazan 2014

bienvenue

issue 1

JOURNALISTSKLAUDIA Mironiuk (PL)

FARNAZ Nasiriamini (DE)

TUYEN Dinh Anh (RU)

ALINA Kastsiukevich (BY)

TIJANA Baroš (SR)

NIKLAS Sannowitz (DE)

HANH Do (RU)

ANDREAS Oedegaard (NO)

VIDEO-EDITOR:CHRISTIAN Macht (DE)

EDITORS:DMITRY Vyskrebentsev (RU)

LEWIN Schmitt (DE)

Welcome, welcome, welcome are the words that we would like to tell you at the start of this session which has many surprises for you in store. However, these words cannot express the tiniest bit of how excited, happy and longed for this session is for us. We are dimensions, the media team of the 3rd National Selection Session of EYP Russia. Eight Journalists, one Video-Editor and two Editors travelled to Kazan from six different countries for the purpose of adding an-other dimension to your stay. The media team will ac-company you throughout the event, our pictures and videos will serve as valuable memories, our articles will both be informative and entertaining. We genuinely believe that the European Youth Parliament is a unique opportunity to meet people, to make friends and to ex-plore what diversity and unity means.

We are delighted to present to you the first issue of the session newspaper. Its aim is to broaden your perspec-tive by adding new dimensions to your experience here as a participant either by enlightening you on the ever so curious topic of Russia bridging east and west or discovering the mysteries of the emblem of Kazan. We invite you to enter all these new dimensions and have a good read.

Dmitry Vyskrebentsev & Lewin Schmitt

Editorial ...............................................................................................................................

The fusion of European and Asian Culture - Russia ..............................................................

Is European politics moving to the right? .............................................................................

How can we change the world with this session? .................................................................

The legend of Zilant .............................................................................................................

Ain‘t a party without your smartphone ................................................................................

Youth attitude towards non-formal employment ................................................................

What it means to be global citizen .......................................................................................

You might be next ...............................................................................................................

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CONTENT

DEAR FRIENDS,

3#rus2014 #eypkazan #kazan2014 #eyprussia

The Fusion of European And Asian Culture - Russia

The discussion of whether Russia culturally belongs to Europe or Asia has been going on for decades. A

lot of evidence, facts and theories have been given out but none of them satisfied the opinion of the opposi-tion. Russia is just too big, its history and culture is just too complicated to be recognized as solely Western or Eastern. The mystery behind the Russian culture might never be revealed a 100%. However, you don’t need an answer to a mystery to fully grasp its nature. Just think about it. Feel it. Russia, my friend, is the fusion of Asian and European cul-tures, making it one of the most unique countries in the world.Russian history begins with Kievan Rus, which existed as the first unified, Slavic Christian state and was a great center of politics and learning. After Kievan Rus fell as a result of Mongol invasion, the Grand Duchy of Moscow gained might and power in the region. From the day it existed till the realm of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), Russia was considered an Asian nation not only by Russians themselves, but also Europeans. Constant trading re-lations with Constantinople and other Asian cities and the Mongol invasion caused a huge impact on Russian tradition and culture. However, during the reign of Peter I (Peter the Great), Russia swiftly turned towards Europe. Peter I was ob-sessed with Europeans - their way of thinking, their refined manners, their tradition and ideology. He nev-er stopped modernizing Russia in a way that moved it closer to Europe (he even taxed Russians wearing beards because European men usually were clean shaven). Russia, with the efforts of Peter, became more of a fox, rather than a bear, by acquiring Western elegance and rationality. At one point in Lev Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, the no-ble Natasha Rostov visits an eccentric old relative who has gone off to live with a peasant woman. He strikes up a folk song on his guitar and Natasha begins to dance - not in the refined, French manner that she has been

taught, but with the raw exuberance of the Russian countryside which, we are invited to suppose, she has mysteriously absorbed. Indeed, this famous and lovely scene alone can accurately describe what Russians are like: they think rationally, act confidently regardless of obstacles, but still driven by their inner emotions. They

can easily become enamored with what they think is right, and act mostly according to their will. The nature of Russian culture is like a puzzle: you must look at the pieces from different angles, put them all together and then take a step back to view the whole picture. With half of Europe and half of Asia within its boundaries, Russia will always be a goulash of the two ingredients. And this is what makes this nation so unique – a European country with an Asian soul.

An EYP event in Russia is nothing granted - questions arise on whether Russia really belongs to Europe. One of our Journalists sums up the discussions for you and provides you with an inter-esting insight on the Russian soul.

by Tuyen Dinh Anh

Dinh is a student at MGIMO and re-ally interested in international rela-tions. He moved to Russia about two years ago.

With elections in France and Hungary as a back-drop, the stage is set for the European Parlia-

ment elections this May. If the aforementioned elec-tions are to indicate anything, it is a strong right-wing presence. In Hungary, the parliamentary elections this spring re-sulted in the continued dominance of the conservative party Fidesz led by Premier Victor Orban, but the main issue was the further growth of the populist right-wing party Jobbik. This party, described both as anti-Semitic and anti-Roma, increased its share of the votes from 16% in 2010 to 20% this year. Moreover, the French National Front (FN) secured a historic number of votes in the French local elections this March, making them the third largest party nationwide. The party has un-dergone a massive renewal after Marine Le Pen took over as its leader in 2011, trying to seem more mod-erate and rid itself of the most controversial opinions. Despite this, their anti-immigration and euroskepti-cism attitudes have left them far right of France’s con-ventional parties. These are just two fresh examples of the wave of right-wing parties advancing in the polls. Already several of such parties fill European parliaments and some have even assumed office in governments around Europe. In Greece, the Golden Dawn holds 16 seats in the parlia-ment. The leader of this group, accused of hate crimes and hooliganism, is now imprisoned awaiting trial for involvement in a criminal organization. A far less rad-ical member of Europe’s right-wing family is the Nor-wegian Progress party. Part of a coalition government with the conservatives since late 2013, the party has drastically toned down their anti-immigration atti-tude. They serve as an example of a former right-wing protest party that have managed the transition into mainstream politics.

The variety of right-wing parties is huge, yet they have all seemed to find some kind of a recipe for political growth. Of course one cannot surpass the motion of the economic crisis affecting the political landscape. Many of these far-right parties started out as protest parties keenly exploiting the frustration and insecurity in Europe after the financial crisis. They have in many cases found scapegoats on which to place the blame for Europe’s recession. Typically, immigrants and dis-tinct immigrant communities have been blamed for sponging of European welfare systems, something that has played well with the European public. To be grossly superficial, these parties all depend on a cer-tain dismay in the population and using xenophobia, nationalism and insecurity to their favour.Yet this trend may not be as unilateral as it seems. It is important to emphasise the differences in these parties. Hailing from the whole of Europe with back-grounds in different societies, cultures and beliefs they are not a homogenous group. Some have managed to manoeuvre into the mainstream political spectrum while others are on the outer fringes, barely staying within the law. For now these parties are on the rise, challenging our conception of open democratic socie-ties. Whether this is a phase, just a symptom of difficult times, we cannot say. And if these parties being boost-ed by national success may let them take the step up from protest parties to become ready for real power or get pushed back to the fringes of the political chart remains to be seen. What is sure is that this May’s EP elections will put Europeans and their values to the test.

by Andreas Oedegaard

Is European Politics Moving to the Right?

Andreas lives in Oslo, Norway, whe-re he is volunteering for Amnesty International, focusing on resources.

Dozens of young people are sitting in a big bright hall in Kazan, coming from all around Europe and

discussing how the world will end tomorrow. They talk about indi-vidualism, about the power of diversity. It is a precise, exciting debate with many different opinions but there is an idea above the dispute, which connects all people in the hall. It’s the idea of unity. A European unity. But what does this actu-ally mean?

It means freedom in many ways such as the free trade between the European Union states or the fact that you can work and live in any EU state if you want to, because you are a European citizen. And the way of thinking about this noble idea of a unity re-sults in the fact that there was no war between the EU States since the beginning of this junction.However, we shouldn’t forget that many countries in Europe are not part of this unity, such as Moldova, Norway or Russia. There is a long way to go for candi-date states to satisfy the criteria of the EU. Others do not even want to be part of it. But why shouldn’t a country want to be part of an area of peace and solidarity? One reason might be that they want to be one of the global players and don’t believe in the power of solidarity. Another reason could be the global economic crisis and the strong disappoint-ment or even hatred towards this union. Observing the reactions of many EU member states, one could get

the impression that the promises we have given each other regarding solidarity and humanity were merely catchpenny promises.

The connections of the current 28 EU member states are like a marriage. They promise to hold to-gether through dire straits and better times. Are we looking at a failed marriage though?

Some voices claim that the European Union was only about economic interests, whereas the wish for peace was nothing

but a farce.

Dozens of young people are sitting in a big bright hall in Kazan, coming from all around Europe and discuss-ing how the world will end tomorrow.Thinking of Europe not as a political term entailing conflict, but as an ideal place of origin, something that unites, rather than separates. Believing in peace and dreaming of solidarity. They have run through a mind-process and know that tolerance and respect will come by being open-minded and by believing in unity.From time to time there are sessions like this in all countries of Europe, gathering young people with fresh ideas and a thirst for exchanging opinions. They come together and experience what unity feels like and thus initiate a change in paradigms that will change tomor-row’s world. Or, as J.W. Goethe said: “The best educa-tion for a clever person is found in travel.“

How can we change the world with this session?

5#rus2014 #eypkazan #kazan2014 #eyprussia

by Farnaz Nasiriamini

Originally born in Iran, Farnaz now lives in Germany, where she got involved with the EYP in 2013. She is furthermore engaged in the socialist political party and in writing poetry.

Participants of the First Euro-African Youth Parliament during General Assembly. The event took place in Berlin this spring and gathered youth from over 50 nations.

The Legend of ZilantAs we are hosted in the city of Kazan, our Journalist Klaudia explored the story behind the city’s emblem. The story of Zilant, the dragon, has some interesting twists and you better know about him, since you will be staying here for the next days.

by Klaudia Mironiuk

Have you ever heard the legend of Zilant? He was a legendary

protector of Kazan, who lived on Zilant Mountain and today em-blem of our host city. The powerful, winged serpent daunted Kazan‘s settlement - but was he actually the real threat? Our Journalist Klau-dia from Poland has made some research to reveal the truth behind the legend.Through the years, Zilant attempt-ed to soften his image, but how dragon could deal with people? Every time he wanted to do some-thing nice and kind for the people, they would run away from him screaming. After a few unsuccess-ful attempts, he finally gave up and decided to lead a lonely life in his serpent habitation. He closed himself, further on avoided con-tact with others and thus seemed to be even scarier than he had used to be. Several years after Zilant’s breakdown on the mountain, a male monastery was founded. The monastery gained control of Ka-zan‘s trade and they collected tax from all the merchant ships. This resulted in difficulties for the set-tlement to function and decreased sellers’ earnings. Desperate res-idents, without any perspective of improving their situation, they remembered the powerful dragon and decided to ask Zilant for help. They wanted him to drive out the monks or persuade them to abol-ish the taxes. Since the dragon was eager to do his best to prove his loyalty to the people, he invented a smart and cunning plan. He told the monks that if they climbed to his cave, they would be able to take

as much gold as they could carry. The greedy monks were very ex-cited about this deal since it would allow them to gain much more than they could ever receive from taxes. However, Zilant imposed two con-ditions: They had to abolish taxes forever and on the way to his cave they were supposed to wear shoe-

like claws. The monks accepted these conditions and started to prepare for the expedition. When they climbed to the top of Zilant’s Mount, where the cave was located, the monks realised that it was almost impossible to hike with those shoes. After an awful strug-gle, they managed to arrive at the cage, where the next Hinderniss arose. In front of the caves’ entry there was a huge gulf of extreme-ly hot lava. The winged serpent

crossed it easily as he could fly over the lava gulf and straight to the cave. A few of the monks attempt-ed to cross the chasm but they fell, so the rest of them gave up and re-turned to the monastery with huge failure. The monks abolished taxes and left Kazan within the next years. Even-tually, Zilant became a hero for the settlers and then they began to re-member him with affection. Peo-ple treated Zilant like a king, but they weren‘t afraid of the dragon anymore. He finally felt free to co-exist with the residents who were really friendly towards him. In the following years, Zilant was an im-portant part of society and became very famous in such a short time. Increasingly, people would ask him for help with various things and he almost always found proper solu-tions. Nowadays that powerful pro-tector with brilliant ideas would be used for commercial purposes and lost his uniqueness. However, we are not sure if he is still alive or if he keeps hiding himself and trying to protect his power. But it is likely that history will come around again; when Zilant gets tired of loneliness he will come out of his hideout. So, please do not be scared when one day you see a dragon in your yard. Think about his feelings and do not disappoint him or make him regret his trying to find company.

Klaudia from Poland is going to study Inter-national Trade. She is a Regional Coordinator for EYP Poland.

Imagine you want to go out tonight and hanging out with some friends. It’s quite a cool evening everybody

seems to have fun and is talking to each other. Some are texting via facebook, twitter or whatsapp or just viewing some pictures on instagram. Such actions are happening again and again. You, the guy who invited your friends and wanted to talk in general, looks a bit con-fused because you do not pick up your phone every minute and cannot understand oth-ers. You are enjoying the par-ty and the games. Later, you and your friends are dancing right in the crowd at the club. The whole club is going crazy and the DJ is killing it – a real-ly sick party! So, there might be no disturbing moment like some hours before. No, the situation worsens: Many peo-ple on the floor are using their phones while dancing, not at the same time but regularly. Some are taking selfies or a picture of the venue with its awesome crowd and others a just starring on their phone and texting. Is it possible to call this a party when every-body is using their phone even while dancing?

Obviously, times have changed: many people have to keep an eye on their smartphones regularly, although nothing important has happened. Moreover, the ad-diction to using smartphones everywhere is increas-ing; even the dance floor is influenced by phones. Do you like it? Unlike what you are thinking about smart-phones at parties most of the taken pictures are inter-esting. And it had become very familiar and sociable to take pictures everywhere in order to remember the situation and share those moments with friends. For instance: you want to take a group picture or send an-other friend a picture of the crowd - bearing in mind you did this to get him/her to the party - just pick up

your phone and take that picture. Often pictures can describe a situation with its emotions and feelings bet-ter than words can do that. And they allow you to have a different approach to the whole situation. So, shar-ing the emotions and feelings of the party in a club had become very unique!

But this doesn’t answer the question if phones on the dance floor are killing the vibe like many DJs would rather say. Music is about emotions and music makes you feel happy, I guess. Purely sharing emotions with your smart-phone while everyone else is partying and dancing is not similar to partying with every-body. Even though it is your own decision what you expect from an awesome night you might realize using smart-phones at a club is not the best thing to do and can disturb your own party with friends. Moreover it is fun, just relax-ing, getting to know other people by talking to them and partying together - everyone will benefit from this. If the DJ

is good, you enjoy the music and the whole venue with its crowd in general and you get to know new people, you will

have a sick night and a party you will probably never forget. Possibly, you think twice if the incoming mes-sage is as important as you think and you have to pick up your phone immediately or you can leave it and en-joy the night with your friends and other persons you’ll meet there.

Ain‘t a party without your smartphoneby Niklas Sannowitz

7#rus2014 #eypkazan #kazan2014 #eyprussia

Niklas organized a Regional Selection Session in Germany last week together with Christian and Lewin before he flew over to Russia.

A smartphone tower built by the Journos during one of their meetings. Nobody can get his phone before the meeting is over - drastically increases efficiency and eye contact

Before I start with all the statistics and information, I would like to share with all of you reading this ar-

ticle how I first got involved in EYP. It was three years ago, and I had just started high school, where I have met my best friend. During one afternoon, we were going for a walk, and he decided that we should go somewhere during summer holidays, and he said: “I have heard about something somewhere, it sounds cool, have no idea what it is about, some friends of ours are going, so should we go as well?” And that is how I started wondering what else I might like. I would also like you to remember the first time you got involved in some non-governmental organization, and to remem-ber how the people around you reacted when they found out about it. Sometimes our closest friends or members of family tend to say that it is a waste of time, that we do not get any money out of it, and that is why young people usually give up quickly, before even realizing what the advantages might be. Nowadays, while all the stand-ards are being constantly raised, it is almost obligato-ry to stand out from the crowd, and being involved in non-formal education would be the best possible way. It is an opportunity to improve some of the skills that we might need in the future, no matter what we decide to do, and those are responsibility, time management, team work and dedication. It may seem attractive to the majority due to all the advantages it offers, such as traveling and meeting new friends, but the main issue

is that young people are badly-informed. It is thought that schools and universities are the most reliable insti-tutions, however they should also perceive non-formal education as equally important as formal education and promote it. Also the state and government should show significant support, so that non-profit organisa-tions and initiatives are noticed. Non-formal education has evolved, and many young people have already experienced the benefits of it when applying for work, and perhaps some other con-ferences or sessions that require some previous expe-rience. So much effort is put into interesting programs and actions that actually have an amazing cause, every single one of them, and anyone might find something that would suit them. Participation in some of the ses-sions on local or even international level has become a “must have” reference in our Curriculum Vitae. It would be a mistake if we would keep considering it as a waste of our free time. What might be suitable con-cerning this topic is a quote that says: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the ones you did”.

Youth attitude towards non-formal educationby Tijana Baroš

Tijana lives in Novi Sad, Serbia. She started EYP in 2012 and has used the network to inform herself about poli-tics, which she finds very interesting.

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#rus2014 #eypkazan #kazan2014 #eyprussia

During all of these ups and downs we have been pulled closer together not like individual nations and more like a global group. Any person in the world has the right to a nationality. It seems that people cannot belong to any state; as well as they cannot belong to anyone, it would mean the loss of freedom and the return of slavery.

Today’s adults are having the discussions about the changing world. Tomorrow’s adults will be living out of the results of these discussions. Today’s teenagers are the first people to live in a globalised world. This is our universe. We are the future. As for me, today’s teenagers are natural globalists and are largely in favor of globalization. More importantly, nearly all of the teenagers are very positive towards technology, cultural exchange, trade, international goods, social involvement.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a com-mon standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. It is not necessary to separate the world into pieces, and each of us must develop a sense of glob-al citizenship, a sense of unity of the people living on earth. I cannot consider myself as a Vietnamese citizen. I am a citizen of the world.I can’t imagine my life without people, new acquaint-ances. Perhaps for this reason I have friends in almost all parts of the world. Some days ago, while walking in the park with my friends someone told me that he has got a European citizenship and he is going to visit Eu-rope. After hearing such words we imperceptibly start-ed to discuss different citizenship. Have you ever heard about worldwide citizenship? What is global? The term

global typically defines a person who places their iden-tity with a global community above their identity as a citizen of a particular nation or place. A global citizen is someone who identifies with being a part of an emerg-ing world community and whose actions contribute to the creation of this community’s values and practices. If someone asked me where I was born, I will answer the world. I believe that the fact of me being born on the planet almost makes me a citizen of the world.Every problem in the world, every global conflict wheth-er it takes place hundreds of thousands of miles away, or right next door, is a global one. We are all citizens of this earth, and all share three common goals: liberty, equality and the pursuit of happiness. These goals can bring together people from all over the world, which is why it’s important to be a Global Citizen, because bor-ders are meaningless.

Being a global citizen is not necessarily being a good global citizen. Standing up for something you believe in, helping out the unfortunate, stopping someone from saying a racist comment - all that is part of being global citizens.

What it means to be a Global Citizenby Hanh Do

Hanh actually prefers being called “Toma”. Amongst her many interests is photography and design, which makes her a perfect member of the media team.

Mark Zuckerberg, David Karp, Blake Ross, Matthew Mullenweg, Cath-erine Cook… Do you know them? I guess you will be familiar with a couple of them, but I am sure that you all know their companies: Facebook, Tumblr, Mozilla Firefox, WordPress, MyYearBook. These are examples of young entrepreneurs who have managed to leave their mark and achieve something great.Youth unemployment has shown a steady increase since the financial crisis hit Europe in 2007. Around the world, governments and business-es face a conundrum: high levels of youth unemployment and a short-age of job candidates with critical skills. But what are the main rea-sons for this problem?The European Commission has launched several action plans in or-der to fight the issue, such as the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Em-ployment Initiative. Some new ways of dealing with the issue of youth unemployment have been explored

during sessions of the European Youth Parliament. Fresh minds and good ideas are the saviors of the world. However, the problem still exists and nothing is changing. The lack of jobs, the lack of experience, the lack of skills and employers’ scepticism towards young professionals - all of this contributes to unemployment. A greater number of older people are working longer and this makes it even more difficult for the youth to get their first position in their career. Yet, despite this availability of labor, employers are dissatisfied with ap-plicants’ skills. One reason is the failure of employers, educators, and young people to understand one another. In Europe, 74 percent of educators were confident that their graduates were prepared for work, but only 38 percent of youth and 35 percent of employers agreed. The different players do not talk to one another and do not understand one another’s expectations and needs.

Moreover, young people are often not learning a sufficient portfolio of general skills needed while they study, this particular shortage of soft skills such as spoken communi-cation and work ethic. Only the young people who receive a strong education have access to good information and also focus on finding opportunities to obtain the necessary job skills can succeed. They have the opportunity to imple-ment their ideas. At the same time there are young people with ideas, perhaps brilliant but still they fail to achieve what other employees have managed to do: to turn their idea into action. Every day thousands of ideas are generated, but are forgot-ten. Will you leave it? Or maybe you will be the one who will change the world?

You might be next“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs

by Alina Kastsiukevich

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Alina is currently studying logistics at the BSEU in Minsk, Belarus. She was at the International Sessi-on of EYP in Tbilisi.

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AT A BEAUTIFUL SESSION

FACEBOOK US!Pictures: Page 4, Jobbik manifestation by Orlovic Page 11, homeless man by Matthew Woitunski

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