1. With Professor Përparim Kabo, we returned to the discussion about the EU as a community of values, focusing in particular on the freedom that allows man to express his capacities and contributions to society. A quick visual presentation of the main theories of some philosophers (Schopenhauer, Fromm, Spinoza, Sartre, etc.) to internalize the nuances of the term freedom, which was talked about a lot in Albania but invested little. Freedom brings a community’s agreement with the truth which, in turn increases social cohesion and its absence at best produces a demotivated, apathetic society and at worst, a conflicted society. Click the link to learn more about this session.
2. H.A.N.A, together with some of the participants of our “Policymaking & Process of EU Accession Negotiation Process” program, visited the German Embassy last week. This meeting, part of one of the 5 components of our program (Study Visits), allowed the youth and our colleagues to talk with the diplomatic representatives of one of the countries with a special contribution to the advancement of Albania throughout the stages of the accession.
We were welcomed from Mr. Martin Zinckendraht, First Secretary, Spokesman and Head of the Culture and Press Section at the German Embassy in Albania.
3. With the journalist Lutfi Dervishi, we carried out a detailed analysis of the relationship between truth and lies, trying to understand why nowadays we reach different conclusions about the same event; so, how the fake is now disguised under the “cloaks” of the truth through the massive spread of the use of social networks where the lie finds global ground.
Just as there are mechanisms for a journalist to research, identify and attack untruths, each of us has the means to defend ourselves because the information we share in sessions like this is enough to apply and replicate. When we read as much information as possible from reliable sources, we contribute in the lowering of possibility to fall prey to conspiracy theorists who find ground in the uncertain, unverified and provide simple explanation to complex events.
4. A special event was the one brought to Lezhë by Donika Çina and Abi Shehu, 2 interdisciplinary visual artists, through the combination of visual and multimedia art, from installations to sound art. Annex Pilot was the name of their artistic and educational program assembled by visual artists and visually impaired/blind people in an effort to collaborate and share perspectives about creativity.
5. In this session, the focus was on the Berlin Process and the history of the journey in the EU, until today, or more precisely, until December 6, 2022, the day of the Berlin Summit, held in Tirana.
Thus, with our expert Çelik Rruplli, we discussed in about 2 hours how Germany originated the Berlin Process, a complementary instrument on behalf of the prospect of EU membership to solve essential structural problems of the region. All countries of Western Balkans participate in this regional initiative, as well as key EU countries and the maximum political support makes it different from any other initiative, including the one called the Open Balkans. Among other things, the participants were introduced to a history of the summits of this process over the years.
6. Another talk about the EU, so as we make sure not to leave a single trail uncovered in the information pack for our participants of the 3rd edition of the winter school in political studies and the EU. This time with Lutfi Dervish and an exhaustive analysis of the main features of the political organization in question as well as the significance of its membership for our country. A lecture which left room for conversation with the participants as well as a comparative approach with the post-membership period for our country. So, what are the main changes that await us, the added value in the EU of Albania’s presence and the implications of the Union’s monetary policies, among others.
7. A festive afternoon to recognize and celebrate the cultural and social values of 9 EU countries, bringing to 18 the number of member states for which we held events with our young people in H.A.N.A’s EU corner.
This is our original way of instilling in the youth the understanding that the European community of the EU is a multicultural community of nations that strongly preserve their identity as their most valuable contribution to the larger EU community.
Thus, we accompanied the celebrations with traditional foods, songs and music of the respective countries, curiosities and games as well as dancing. This event also served as the conclusion of another busy programming year.
