03/10/11
Representatives of the youth organization of GERB – Maria Popova (Blagoevgrad), Alexandar Kirilov and Botyo Botev(Sofia) participated in an international training ‘Shaping the future of the European Union’, which was held from September 29 to October 2 in Ohrid (Macedonia), organized by ‘Konrad Adenauer’ Foundation in cooperation with the Centre for European Studies and the ‘Civic’ Institute. The forum was attended by young representatives of right-wing parties from nine countries on the Balkans.
The training was opened on September 29 (Thursday) with a presentation of the lecturer from the Centre for European Studies – Roland Freudenstein within which the main steps in the process of EU enlargement were outlined. Participants were informed about the process of negotiations and the accession of candidate states to the Union. During the next day the youth had the opportunity to examine what they had learned in a simulation game, as they were required to arrange in chronological order facts from the history of the European enlargement.
On Friday training simulation ‘Shaping the future of the European Union’ was launched, in which participants had to enter into the role of representatives of four candidate countries – FYR Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania as well as the main European institutions involved in the enlargement process –the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council. During the simulation game there were held negotiations between the states and the European institutions, as well as between different European institutions. The whole process was accompanied by official statements and informal conversations which were observed by representatives from the biggest European media. After the training simulation the participants commented on the results, as they all shared the opinion that it had helped them to become aware of the problems on the Balkans and in the European institutions from different perspective, as well as to make new friends.
