Helvetia Issue One by Tamer Özgen

HELVETIA ISSUE ONE The Official Newspaper Of Bern2015

EDITORIAL Hello hello!

As the media team, we believe that our work must be concentrated towards the participants of the session. Thus, our delegates, you are right in the focus of our outputs and projects. This is why we have been engaging in activities like our Journo Hotspot at the coffee break area, Photo Challanges and interactive social media accounts. And the turnout from you guys couldn’t have been better. The journo hotspot yesterday was brilliant with everyone participating in our activities. Could you have imagined that 29 people can actually get in one hula hoop? Or that you would get more than 10 officials in one picture to win the photo challenge? We are quite happy with the outcome and we hope that you enjoy sharing with us as well. If you are one of those who haven’t followed us on Snapchat or Instagram, do it right away! Lastly, here is our winner of the photo challenge on the left. Although not being able to see all the faces, that selfie has most officials in it. Congratulations! And also, we’d like to pronounce the one below as the second. Despite the ‘obvious’ cheating there, we appreciate your enthusiasm guys! Enjoy the Issue 1!

This Issue is brought to you by R. Tamer Özgen (TR) Onur Can Uçarer (TR) Oliver Kötter (DE) Bilge Özensoy (TR) Caoimhe Healy (IE) Cécile Schluep (CH) Dimitris Krokos (GR) Doris Fonseca Lima (CH) Josephine Heinzelmann (CH) Mari Vetti Frostad (NO) Maria Fedoruk (UA) Marta Rosique Saltor (ES) Samuel Hönle (AT) Tom Wolfskämpf (DE)

WHAT’S INSIDE? TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE

6 BEARS 7 HOW THE BEARS BECAME FAMOUS IN BERN BERN

KARIN-LIIS LAHTMÄE INSIDE MS. PRESIDENT’S MIND

ENGINEERED TO KILL DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? 4

33400

KILOMETERS OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

WHAT TYPE OF AN EYPER ARE YOU?

HELVETIA

The Story Behind The Name and the Logo Of Our Team

16 19

REVERSED REALITY OF 21

BLA C K& WHITE

EUROPEAN CRISIS DAY CLOCK

22 5

Together Everyone Achieves More Each EYP Session start with the same ritual: Teambuilding. The idea behind this is logical and also quite interesting. Caoimhe Healy (IE)

Niiiiiiinnnnnnja! Haiduken! Hee Ha Ho!

ave you ever wondered why your Chair makes you sing crazy songs and play obscure games? Or why exactly do they see it necessary to lock you into a room for a day and a half so you can all “get to know one another a bit better”? If so, you’re about to gain an insight into why teambuilding is such an essential component of what we do here in EYP. Before I start explaining anything, you should take a second to look at how difficult what we do actually is. Essentially, we take a complete bunch of strangers, present them with an extraordinarily difficult problem and ask them to write a fully comprehensive resolution outlining their proposed solutions - in a matter of only three or four days. Now, bearing this in mind, let’s continue.

As many of you know, there is more fun and games packed into teambuilding than there are facts and guidelines in committee work. With everything from name games to human knots, and all of the ninjas and street fighters in between, teambuilding serves as a platform that creates an intrinsic bond within a committee. This intrinsic bond is crucial in fostering the development of a group as they set out to write a resolution. It creates a deep-rooted, inter-

nal motivation amongst delegates. What one thinks about themselves is everything, and hence if one is self-motivated, they can do anything and everything that the topic asks of them. On top of assisting in motivating delegates to write a resolution, the teambuilding we do here in EYP is necessary for the creation and growth of long lasting, strong friendships. The sense of working together as a unit and that connection between you and fellow participants can be so strong at a session that it is almost palpable at times. It highlights social and cultural exchange, academic and personal development and creates life-long companionships. It may sound clichéd, but all you need to do for proof is asking an older alumnus about the friendships they’ve made here in EYP. These relationships are born through a common passion for what we do here, from the experiences we’ve had here and from the things we never in our bravest of dreams thought we could achieve here. Phil Jackson once wisely said “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the ‘me’ for the ‘we’.” So have a little think, and I am sure you’ll have used ‘we’ today much more often than you’ll have used “me”.

How The Bears Became Famous in Bern Maria Fedoruk (UA) & Josephine Heinzelmann (CH)

Bears have been a symbol in Bern for over thousand years. The origin of this symbol lies in the earliest days of Bern’s existence.Two journalists have uncovered two theories on how the bears came to be in Bern. “Once Upon a Time...” by Josephine Heinzelmann

nce upon a time, when the city of Berne was nothing but a clearing surrounded by a dark, dense forest, there lived a little girl with her father in a small wooden hut. One day, she was wandering along through the forest picking woodland strawberries for dessert, when she suddenly stopped dead. A distinctive humming sound drifted towards her from the river banks and it seemed to be approaching her. Afraid of the encounter with some kind of dangerous creature, she quickly hid behind a bush. And indeed, a moment later, a large brown bear emerged from the brush. The girl needn’t have been frightened, however, for the bear was dancing happily with a tranquil expression on his face. Plucking up her courage, she came forward. “What a marvelous tune!” “Why, thank you, Little Girl!”, answered the bear, politely. “Are there any words to go with it?”, she inquired. When the bear answered no, she offered to help. Together, they spent the afternoon coming up with lyrics. Look for the bare necessities / the simple bare necessities / forget about your worries and your strife! / I mean the bare necessities / Old Mother Nature‘s Recipes / That bring the bare necessities of life Wherever I wander wherever I roam / I couldn‘t be fonder of my Berne home / The bees are buzzing in the tree / to make some honey just for me / When you look under the rocks and plants / And take a glance at the fancy ants / Then maybe try a few / The bare necessities of life will come to you! *** One thousand years and hundreds of bear generations later, a young cub, living in the Bear Pit of the now flourishing town of Berne, was very bored. So it’s mother taught it the Bear Song that had been handed down through the generations of Bernese bears. As an American tourist was passing by, he heard the Bear Song with it’s groovy tune and happy-go-lucky lyrics. It elated him so much that when he returned home, he performed it for his bosses at the company he worked for. Needless to say, they went crazy about it as well and decided to feature it in their next movie. Today, the world has forgotten that it were the Bernese bears who inspired The Movie. But in it’s day, the bears from Berne were stars, being the inspiration behind the main character and the groovin’ music. That’s how the bears became famous in Berne.

“We’re going on a Bear Hunt” by Maria Fedoruk

hile checking if one has appropriate number of bullets for the Sunday hunt, be prepared to figure out your potential victim’s strengths and weaknesses first. All in all, it is said that such knowledge might double your success, and make, eventually, a strategy applied beneficial and life-saving on the path back home. On the Wall Street in the nearest forest, they have a deathly fight: the bears and the bulls. You never know who is going to face you occasionally within next years, and certainly, if your economy is stable enough to survive. According to local legends, Berchtold V, the founder of the Swiss city of Bern, met on his hunt an animal who turned out to be a bear. A large furry animal with big teeth and long claws and with a taste for honey... Do not be in despair if such unlucky accident happens to you either! Caution is the name of the game. The term “bear” in the stocks basics is thought to derive from the way the animal attacks its enemies. A bear market refers to the market condition in which the prices of securities are falling, and widespread pessimism causes the negative sentiment to be self-sustaining. Thus, it means that such an economic slowdown of the country is no longer attractive for potential investors. However, there is a number of things one can do to protect its investments in the “bear” country. First and foremost, play dead – stay aside. Putting a portion of your portfolio on sidelines in the form of money market securities means a safe stay while the bear is hungry and pretty much dangerous. Diversification of the ways your assets are spread among bonds, stocks, cash proves to be useful in the times of economic downtown, and you have a chance to slice up it in any way you want. Although you remain silent, you must be flexible when a good opportunity of investment arises. Secondly, an aggressive strategy of fighting is a way to go, too. On the one hand, such approach allows an investor to profit as the stock heads downward. On the other hand, sometimes you are meant to lose more then 100% of your initial investments by taking a short position on a company – the bear can hit you unexpectedly. Finally, one can find friends in harsh times as well: there are still industries who outperform the overall market, and they are called “defensive” ones. They are worth of investing even when the whole market is under attack as they keep producing goods all people need. The Duke vowed to name the city he founded in the bear’s name. And people still remember how ones can be defeated. That is how the bears became famous in Bern.

So which story are YOU convinced of?

INSIDE MS PRESIDENT’S MIND 8

Marta Rosique i Saltor (ES)

What are you doing in your life right now?

e s j.p.sar tr

Manon and Moritz didn’t really know what they were getting themselves into when they got an Estonian president, since Estonians are supposedly slow and notoriously late while the Swiss are known for their punctuality and time management. But I have to say that with the help of the Board, we all managed to get to Opening Ceremony on time, so things haven’t gone as badly as they could have!

Why do you think you got selected as the president of Bern 2015 NSC?

e ov

I will say something that other people use to describe me, one adjective and one noun: «a friendly giant».

Why did you accept to preside the session? At the time when I was offered the position -as things always go- I was doing nothing with my time. Thus, I thought I would definitely have time to do this. The fact that it was EYP Switzerland, and that it was Manon and Moritz asking me... I knew that I had made the right choice. I knew it was going to be good and was going to attract a lot of excellent people.

What are your expectations for the session? I expect people to have fun and I expect people to get everything that they possibly can from this experience. That would be the best outcome because what makes them happy (unless it’s something criminal!) is what makes me happy at the end of the day.

lang u a

How would you describe yourself?

g e s

have just graduated from the University of Tartu, I got my master’s degree in International relations. I also graduated for a second time of sorts this last summer and now I speak Korean to a beginners level, which means I can say a couple of words and I could probably order food at a restaurant. Once I go back to Estonia, I’ll have to start looking for a job really quickly and see what I would be most useful for.

n-Liis i ar

Why do you think Bern 2015 is unique compared to other EYP sessions?

s La h tm a

I have to say that collectively it would be the people; every single delegate, guest, teacher, supporter, board member, and official. I feel like this fantastic combination of these people is what will make it unique. And plus- Bern itself... have you been outside at the city?!

Could you share an EYP experience that you will always remember?

est

onian s p e

It would have to be from 2012, when I was head-organising a session. Estonia is a very small country which means that we only had seven organisers, plus myself. It was the last day and one of my organisers dropped me off at the GA venue at around 6.45am. I had probably not slept for four days and then I got to the venue where they had promised us chairs -we were at a very fancy place right next to the airport in Tallin- and then I got there and saw that all the chairs that we were promised were stacked on top of each other. So there were hundreds of chairs on top of each other, and I was just standing there. I sat down in the ground and I was like: «this is my life, it’s over now. I will never be able to do this». And the previous day I had just dropped my phone into the toilet so I couldn’t ask for anybody’s help because I didn’t have my mobile phone with me. I was just all alone, surrounded by hundreds of chairs that were not the right chairs… they are not even chairpersons! There were no people that could help me. What happened then?

I started putting all the chairs in place and when the delegates walked in, I’d done everything, I smiled to them, walked out and I sighed «I can’t do this anymore». But you always have the people that come and support you even when you’ve lost complete control and you’re taking too long with your crazy moment and the schedule needs to go on... and my organiser´s came and brought me Indian food. The more you experience EYP, the more you learn to embrace everybody, and it´s because you get so much out of it that you finally learn how to give back.

k a

u fo

What would be your advice for the delegates? Not to worry at all, which means that when you feel like you’ve let yourself or somebody else around you down, know that you and the people around you can always pick you up again and take you to another place. And that doesn’t just end with one session, if you wish to have it.

ENGINEERED

TO KILL

With technology being used to control things such as self driving cars, engineers are now developing algorithms which will eventually decide over life and death. Classic ethics do not have any sort of approach for this yet, thus requiring an answer to be found immediately. by Tom Wolfskämpf (DE)

echnology has come a long way. Humanity went from exclusively mechanical constructions to highly abstract digital appliances which are now used in every day life. While most of them do not carry the responsibility to make potentially life altering decisions, there has been applications around for the last few years which do require decision-making to an extent which was simply unimaginable just a few decades ago.

tising the siblings and parents? In the days before technology was being used in critically important environments, it was not clear what the outcome of an accident would be before it happened. Humans used to draw the conclusion themselves and would do it imminently before the judgement was vital. This made it impossible to do the right thing by evaluating every possible aspect of the situation. As easy as it was to deem it impossible to make a right decision and thus leave out the question of ethics, this is no longer possible with the developments Computers do not do anything on their own. Humans occurring in the information age. need to give them instructions for every possible scenario, and predefine the outcome. In classical comput- Ethically, this leaves engineers with a problem that is ing areas such as maths, this is not problematic. One bordering on insolvable proportions. How should their plus one will always be equal to two and predefining formulae value each individual’s life to make the right this has no ethical strings attached to it. However, pro- decision? It would require an immense amount of ingramming an algorithm which would be used to decide formation about all those involved and even if it was the outcome of a car crash is vastly different from this available, how should this information be used to place classical approach, as this decision might drastically a value on a life? change someone’s life or even end it. The search for the value of life is not new, and while it To make matters worse, it’s not just about steering right can be measured economically, it can certainly not be or left to avoid a deathly accident for the passengers of measured ethically. So should we not try and go back to the self-driven car; there will inevitably be situations in the unmethodical way of randomising the decision, or which any outcome will result in the death of at least is this just as ethically wrong as comparing the values of one human life. What if the car were to steer left and kill lives against one another? Our generation will have to the caring grandmother who looks after her disabled shape the future of humanity by finding the answer to husband on her own? Or should it steer right and erase this now fundamental problem. the youngest member of a family, permanently trauma-

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? 14

Caoimhe Healy (IE) & Mari Vetti Frostad (NO) 374 eyes. Blue. Green. Brown. Grey. Hazel. Each individual participant at this session has a unique pair of eyes through which they see and interact with the world around them. People see the sky is blue and apples are red. People watch birds flying and cars whizzing past. But do we all interpret these things to be the same? Do all of the little wires in our brain connect up the same? We don’t know about the wires that interpret birds or colours, but we do know one thingthe “EYP wire” in each participant’s mind is definitely connecting up in almost identical manners within us. Perception requires imagination- something us EYPers have in abundance- because the data people encounter in their lives is never quite complete and is always equivocal. For example, most people consider that the greatest evidence one can take from an event is to see it with their own eyes. In a court of law, little is held in higher esteem than an eyewitness testimony. Yet if a judge asked for a video of the same quality as the unprocessed data captured on the retina, they would wonder what you were trying to cover over. For one, there would be a blind spot where the optic nerve attaches to the retina. Moreover, the only part of our field of vision with pristine resolution is a narrow band of about one degree of visual angle around the retinas centre- an area about as wide as the top of your thumb when it’s held at arm’s length from your face. Outside of this area, resolution quality drops off rather sharply. To compensate, we constantly move our eyes to focus in on objects within our broad view. And so, the pattern of raw data delivered to the brain is often shaky, or a badly pixilated picture with a black hole in it. But the result is often a happy human being suffering from the compelling illusion that his or her vision is sharp and clear. And so we must ask- Do you see what I see? Different eyes have come together here in Bern. Different eyes have seen similar things and presented differing opinions. But one thing’s for sure- we here at Bern 2015 are all of the one mindset. So we ask you now to see what others see, and to not forget how this felt in the beginning, all new and exciting. And above all else, do not forget the way you saw this experiencehow you looked at one another and how you looked at yourself. Apart from not forgetting it, use it and build on it. From now on, take a second or two to ask yourself “do you see what I see?”

What do you think of when you see a bar of chocolate, a great oil rig in the ocean, boat packed with immigrants? Do you see what I see? Antoine: I think of the consumer haven Europe is. Cyrille: Desperation. Dominik: Hope.

Sophie: I just think of it as something very unnatural, sticking out of the ocean. Julian: Oil crisis, like the one in the Gulf of Mexico. Antoine: Transformers!.

Dominik: I think of it as a dentist’s job! Sophie: An aphrodisiac. Daniele: An environmental issue, because of the cocoa bean shortage.

33400 Kilometers Outside Your Comfort Zone Mari Vetti Frostad (NO), Samuel Hรถnle (AT) & Dimitris Krokos (GR)

“His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs, But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down, The whole crowd goes so loud He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out He’s choking how, everybody’s joking now The clock’s run out, time’s up, over, blaow!”

3400 kilometers is how far the team of chairs, journos, jury members and organisers all travelled to get to Bern 2015. Why do we put all this effort and time into crossing the dozens of borders across the continent? We asked the officials team why they kept coming back for international experiences in EYP. The common denominator? They’ve discovered the urge to push themselves out of their comfort zone. Travelling internationally keeps throwing you into deep water; the only way to learn how to really swim. Remember that when you feel your heart goes racing and palms sweating during General Assembly – that’s how you grow. Grasp the opportunity to evolve in EYP. “Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment. Would you capture it, or just let it slip?”

How about you guys? We wanted to show that being international doesn’t necessarily require an expensive plane ticket. International encounters can be found everywhere – be that learning new languages or exploring your own roots:

OFFICIALS’ TRAVEL STORIES Tom Wolfskämpf (DE) The second of Tom’s 7 trains from Diepholz to Vevey had a 5 minute delay, which resulted in him missing all his other trains. Poor Tom was another victim of tight scheduling.

Samuel Hönle (AT) Although Sam’s Austrian planning was impeccable, his connecting train towards the airport was cancelled one minute before departure. Sam then had to wait 45 minutes for the next train and thankfully caught his flight, only to realise in Bern that there was a “property irregularity”, in other words the airline lost his luggage.

Onur Can Uçarer & Tamer Özgen (TR) When taking the plane from Istanbul, a passenger decided to smoke right outside the airplane, which resulted in a fight with another passenger, police coming and their plane being delayed for one hour. Our lovely Editors couldn’t escape the fiery temperament of Mediterranean people.

Dimitris Krokos (GR)

Coming from an EYP event in Berlin, Dimitris arrived to Zurich airport exhausted and cold. While sitting at the airport café, a cheerful guy came up to him and asked him for a lighter which he by chance had. The result was that Dimitris met this guy, who proved to be from Egypt and insisted in buying Dimitris an airport cappuccino costing 8 francs. This was a big thing for Dimitris, coming from Greece.

WHAT

TYPE OF AN

EYPer ARE YOU?

Cécile Schluep (CH) & Doris Fonseca Lima (CH)

How did you feel when you came here?

During coffee break, I drink...

- Gee, where’s the booze? (3) - comfortable / interested (2) - nervous / eager (1)

- Coffee (3 points) - Tea (2) - Soda (1)

What do you think during Committee work?

How much did you drink at the last party?

- That reminds me of a story, listen... ” (3) - “I know this!” (1) - “Hey guys, I just had an idea!” (2)

Which Apps do you use most often on your phone? - Whatsapp, Snapchat, Instagram (3) - Music, Alarm Clock, Email (2) - Notes, Calculator, Google (1)

- Coke (1) - 1 to 5 beers (2) - 5 – 10 beers (3)

What do you do at a party? - Dance (2) - Flirt (3) - I don’t go to parties (1)

TYPE A (7-10points):

TYPE B (11-16points):

TYPE C (17-21points):

THE ACADEMIC

WORK-LIFE BALANCER

THE SOCIALIZER

The part you enjoy most about an EYP session is Committee Work. You find pleasure in preparing your topic overview. You like digging for facts on the internet. While your academic interest is of high value for every EYP session, make sure to engage in socialising events too. After all, it would be a shame if you’d miss a possible best friend for life. Your academic skills and your active participation would make you a great chair!

An interested individual, you like putting effort into things but also know when to take a break. Time and energy management are essential qualities you possess. You generally live the moment, whether it requires your full concentration or most fun partying. You are able to chill out with your buddies and meet a deadline – you were born to be a Journo!

You are the crazy EYPer! Why overwork when there are people to meet, parties to attend and maybe free booze? You had a blast at teambuilding but when it comes to committee work you sometimes catch yourself drifting away into daydreams and thinking about the next coffee break. For you, the EU jokes EYP nerds laugh their heads off about are kind of geeky but in the end everyone that participates in EYP is awesome! Your enthusiasm and fun, relaxed spirit would make you a dedicated Orga!

HELVETIA The Story Behind the Name and the Logo Of Our Team

by Cécile Schluep (CH) & Doris Fonseca Lima (CH)

The outspoken “Helvetia” has been the female personification of Switzerland since the 17th century. In times of crisis, she has presented herself as a symbol of unity. After the end of the religious wars she was increasingly used on coins, stamps and postcards.

This woman embodies many Swiss values but most importantly that of Freedom – one of the key pillars of the press. Hence, our Helvetia is holding the notorious pencil, showing our support for freedom.

The shield with the Swiss cross demonstrates defense, pragmatism and the neutrality of Switzerland. At the same time, the sprightly look in Helvetia’s eyes faces outwards, towards the European Union. Correspondingly, the media team strives to give you news from all over Europe, while acknowledging the « Swissness » of the session.

Opinion column

REVERSED REALITY OF BLACK AND WHITE Humour can be powerful bonding tool when it hits the right spot. It is, however, equally powerful for discriminative attitudes to take root in a society’s common perspective. There are no rules or taboos in humour-land, and this paves the way for hateful remarks on sensitive subjects, as well as fuelling ethical dilemmas. But where do we draw the line? Is there a point where humour must cease? Should some topics be “off limits” for being made fun of? Maria Fedoruk (UA) & Bilge Özensoy (CH)

bviously to some, the answer to these questions is negative. That is why sub-genres of humour such as “black comedy” or “sick comedy” exist. This is why people aren’t so hesitant when making rape jokes, delivering homophobic punch lines, giggling at racist remarks or cracking ‘’dead-baby’’ jokes. Although there cannot be a final verdict about this controversy, mocking certain subjects have been proven to cause damage to society. For individual people, joking about these sensitive subjects might be seen as “just a joke” and nothing more. However, sociological studies have proven that jokes that are based on discriminating a certain group of people (e.g. racist jokes, sexist jokes, homophobic jokes) actually escalate the hostility shown towards that group. In fact, with or without intention, some of these jokes are used to express prejudice and hostile thoughts. Think about your own personal experiences. When you say something or do something you shouldn’t have, you

get out of it by saying “I was just kidding! I wasn’t serious.” Let’s assume that the jokes genuinely don’t reflect the opinion of that person. Even in this case, the fact that a person mocking the subject undermines its cruelty. Gradually and unconsciously, these kinds of jokes deepen the stereotypes and biases associated with the groups and often tend to normalise the discrimination. It is also proven that people that have homophobic, misogynistic or racist inclinations tend to appreciate humour of this kind more often, since they can relate to the thoughts and bleakness of the humour. Laughing at or initiating such jokes can in fact be a secret validation of such actions. Humour is an integral part of our daily lives, and anything or anyone can be subject to it. However, one should never underestimate the power of such a fundamental pillar of life on one´s culture or on ´the norms´ of the society. At the end of the day, a black-humoured joke bringing provoking perspectives to the table might unfortunately reverse what we see as either black or white.

or not trusting anyone. However, we can luckily affirm that the clock is not ticking anymore, as for the last two years the crisis has neither deteriorated nor improved.

T react.

Spain is currently seven minutes away from a disaster.

he clock is ticking faster than expected and Europe is almost at midnight. The sun goes down at the same pace European conflicts increase. Whenever the crisis conquers the continent, it will be harder to get out of this darkness, but we still have some minutes left to

Almost seventy years ago, the members of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin invented Doomsday Clock, which is a countdown until global disaster. Considering the nuclear wars and the climate change, they can now affirm that we only have three minutes left until everything bursts. And if they were able to count this, we might also had the chance to discover Europe’s life expectancy according to its crisis. But instead, we have our own estimates.

Let’s explore Europe’s dark side.

Spain Spain’s European Crisisday Clock quickly advanced since 2008, when the economic crisis started. The seconds became minutes in short term, especially because of the economic growth that left the country in a disaster. Specifically, it was because of the real estate bubble. In 1998 an average house rent was €1089 and in 2005 it increased to €2516, salaries being the same. As the construction was at its climax, the banks decided to overcome this problem by providing credits and this seemed to calm everything down for a while, until the creditors realised they weren’t going to be able to not have their money back.

“Why use such fancy words”, some of you might wonder. “It all sounds Greek to me”, some of you might argue. Well, the sad truth is that this was and is a Greek story, albeit it used to be Greek mythology and now is Greek reality. Sometimes, fancy words have a lot of substance behind them and these are the times you should be more afraid of.

Until now I might have only confused you if you don’t know the story behind Scylla and Charybdis, so let’s take one step at a time. Scylla and Charybdis were mythical creatures described by Homer in the Odyssey. They were supposed to live in the Messina Strait, in Italy and signified almost certain death for sailors travelling through.

EUROPEAN CRISIS DAY CLOCK by Dimitris Krokos (GR), Maria Fedoruk (UA) and Marta Rosique i Saltor (ES)

Suddenly, the citizens, the creditors and the state got into debt. Crisis had only started and bad consequences were about to come. Between 2008 and 2013, the unemployment rate of Spain had more than doubled, reaching 27%. Poverty expanded all over the country, making inequality much more visible within the extinction of the middle class. The state got immersed into a political instability and demonstrations with about 10 million people took place to demand an immediate change. Right now, seven years after the start of the crisis, many aspects have changed. Politically speaking, Spain has experienced a change nobody expected, specially because of the fact that it hasn’t been a long time since Franco’s dictatorship. Two-party predominance is fading away with new parties’ appearance on the political stage. Many of the citizens affected by the crisis are looking for an alternative by trusting new politicians with different ideas -such as Pablo Iglesias-

Greece: Between Scylla and Charybdis

Scylla was a six headed monster that would crush sailors in her path and Charybdis was a huge whirlpool that would also suck passing sailors into the depths of the sea. As the myth has it, when Odysseus (or Ulysses) had to pass through Scylla and Charybdis, he chose to confront Scylla under the rationale that he could only lose a few sailors and save his ship, which would otherwise be sunk in the whirlpool of Charybdis. Homer’s “mythos” (meaning fiction) has today in Greece been transformed into “aletheia” (meaning reality). Greece is facing difficult, almost existential times. Greece is between Scylla and Charybdis and has been for a long time. After almost five years of painful austerity measures, cuts in social benefits and unemployment rates soaring at about 60% in young people and 28% in the general population, the society was in the brink of collapse. Suicide rates were on the rise, the corners of Athens and other major cities suddenly filled with homeless people and children were fainting at school due to malnutrition, the Greek society was looking for a way out.

Ukraine

The sound of machine guns has never sounded like music. It neither honours the fascinating story behind any note, nor cherish fallen heroes of the past days. However, it does leave its never-ending trace through time in hearts.

The number of homeless people rises each day all around Europe.

During the last elections at the 25th of January a significant amount of Greeks put their faith in the now governing party “SYRIZA” and his leader Alexis Tsipras. The coalition government that was formed was elected on an anti-austerity agenda and a vision for a European Union based on the people, which -as Tsipras declared- was based on the founding principles of Europe. He promised to avoid both the Scylla and the Charybdis of modern Greece, Scylla representing Greece being tied to successive memoranda and having to sacrifice some of its “sailors” every time and Charybdis perceived as an exit of Greece from the EU and the Eurozone, meaning it would be highly possible for Greece to “sink”. Faced with this dilemma and after some months of ever failing negotiations with European creditors, the SYRIZA government decided to hold a referendum about the approval or rejection of a third bailout package/memorandum. Voters in their vast majority rejected the third bailout package with 61,31%, which was followed by celebrations about the “OXI” (NO) victory and lead to a rise of expectations amongst the Greek society.

While taking a precise look at the story of the crisis in Ukraine, a simple watch must be your best friend. Every tiny piece of the puzzle plays its own key part in shaping the whole image. Consequently, one wrong step forward leads you to the unfortunate repetitiveness of events, which results in you going backwards, eventually. Throughout the history, Ukrainians have proven the relevance of staying united with the whole world, irregardless of any situation, and what more important is, by staying connected with their homeland. Over the centuries, various invasions have taken place: it started in the Christian era with Goths and Huns getting onto Ukrainian steppes, followed by the Khazars. In 1386, the alliance of Poland and Lithuania took over these territories, which derived into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. Later, several expansions of the Russian Empire (and its successor, the Soviet Union) occurred. With this in mind, the price for liberty and rights was understood, appreciated and protected through thick and thin by Ukrainians – guardians with a 1000-year background, but only little practice from twenty five years of independence. Putting historical twists together carefully, piece by piece, reveals the driving force of the nation. Nevertheless, the same mistake has been done: people, made weak by time and fate but strong in will, with a belief in equality and fair conditions for everyone, have desperately strived for a new leader, yet have gone again for a fig leaf. The Vilnius Summit that took place in November 2013, marked the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, when Viktor Yanukovich, the former President of Ukraine, refused to sign a landmark Association Agreement with the European Union. The Summit’s failure triggered massive demonstrations in Kyiv, which eventually led to anti-governmental protests fuelled by the perception of ‘widespread corruption in the government’, ‘abuse of power’ and ‘violation of human rights’. Thus, the resignation of Yanukovich followed after Euromaidan bloodshed, and it paved the way for the current crisis in Eastern Ukraine, which supported the former President and its pro-Russian stance.

The higher the rise, the bigger the fall, as the saying goes, and this is exactly what happened in the Greek scenario. A few days after the “NO” of the Greek people, Tsipras signed a new bailout deal, which included all of the measures that were rejected and many more. Namely, the new package deal includes privatization of the most strategic infrastructure, including airports, water and power companies, ports, as well as massive cuts in education, pensions and wages. As soon as the deal was signed Tsipras lost the support of the majority of the society as well as of his own MPs, forcing him to resign and go to elections at the 20th of September. Remain silent and persistent towards your surrounding, - five minutes of the Doomsday Clock put you away from the disaster. SudGreece is at a turning point. It is between enforcing successive mem- denly, the wave might hit you and drown with its force. oranda with a huge toll on the people of the country and having to exit the EU –an option with unforeseeable consequences. Scylla and Fear the implications or unite? Give up or stand up? Yet four minutes Charybdis are very present in Greece. But there might, also, be a determine that the bomb is clearly ticking. third option that we -as united Europeans- can create on our own. The burden to take the future in our hands lies on our shoulders and Push the gun and go for it, pay for your life lesson one day, - three we should be eager to lift it. All together; as one. Because, in the end, minutes left until the midnight. we all face the same problems. Greece is currently five minutes away from a disaster.

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