21.05.2004 - Press Release on the Future of Europe Conference in Athina Discover your neighbours! - Future of Europe conference in Athens On the 14-16 of May, in Athens, The European Students' Forum AEGEE has successfully organized a remarkable event entitled "Future of Europe". The event was organised in partnership with JEF (Young European Federalists), hosted 30 participants from all over Europe and took place within the framework of the "EU and Europe", the year plan project of AEGEE-Europe for the year 2004, carried out by the International Politics Working Group (IPWG) of AEGEE. This umbrella project aims at analysing and discussing the relationships between the EU after its latest enlargement and its (new) neighbours. Accordingly, the conference participants were provided with a great opportunity to elaborate on the matters bearing pivotal importance for the Future of Europe, including enlargement, new borders of Europe, Constitution for the European Union. The conference was opened on the 14th of May with the speeches by Aggeliki Boura from AEGEE-Athina, Maria Tsiaga from JEF-Athens, Risana Shytou from AEGEE-Europe and Olivier Genkin from AEGEE-IPWG, followed by a fruitful panel discussion on the EU enlargement and the speech on the role of the European Commission in the new EU by Mr. Georgios Markopouliotis - the Head of the European Commission Office in Athens. While Giovanni Biava, International Officer JEF Italy, enlightened participants and raised discussions on a Federal Constitution for Europe, Romanian Ambassador Caius Traian Dragomir, the First Secretary of the Polish Embassy - Krzysztof Lewandowski, Bulgarian Ambassador Stefan Stoyanov and Cyprus Ambassador - Leonidas Pantelides provided a great opportunity for the participants to listen to their first-hand opinions regarding the impact of the Union's enlargement. As regards border matters, Oleh Kyriyenko, consultant on EU projects, and Yiğit Aksakoğlu from Istanbul Bilgi University NGO Training and Research Center, explained the current situation in Ukraine and Turkey as the new neighbours of the EU. The conference participants also enjoyed and actively participated in the thematic workshops on enlargement, EU institutional framework and citizen's rights. The conference was followed by a cultural activity Balkan-SEE-nemania, during which young European students had a chance to see, analyse and discuss Serbian, Greek, Turkish, Cypriot and Macedonian movies and documentaries. " I strongly believe that this conference was a great opportunity to gain better understanding of the current situation in the countries neighbouring the European Union. I had the chance to learn a lot from the enthusiastic and fruitful arguments of participants and the presentations of high-level speakers" - reflects Burcu Becermen, one of the participants. AEGEE is one of Europe's largest interdisciplinary and voluntary student associations, operating without being linked to any political party, promoting a unified Europe, cross-border co-operation, communication and integration in academic environment, and at the same time striving to create an open and tolerant society by involving students and young graduates in valuable projects and discussions over the topics of importance for the communities they live in. It is represented in 260 university cities, in 42 countries all around Europe and has about 17000 members. More information: Ewa Solarczyk Vice-President / Director for Public Relations European Students' Forum - AEGEE Rue Nestor de Tiere 15 1030 Bruxelles Phone: +32 2 245 23 00 Fax: +32 2 245 62 60 Web: www.aegee.org Email: [log in to unmask]