It is for me a pleasure and an honour to address the readers of Europe House Buzz.
2022 is the year of the French presidency of the European council (FPEU – French Presidency of the EU during this first semester) and the European Year of Youth. As such we decided to combine those two events here in North Macedonia.
Between March and June, we are organising four major conferences, each in a different town across the country, each dealing with a different priority of the FPEU.
The next one will take place in Strumica on 27th April. The central theme will be European sovereignty with the exceptional participation of Mr Zoran Zaev together with one of the most recognised French experts on European matters, Mr Yves Bertoncini.
Similarly to the three other conferences, this one will target the audience of young people, from high schools and universities with the support of RYCO and Europe House.
Instead of talking about young people we chose to talk with young people about priority issues for the future of Europe and thus the future of the new generation, Macedonian and European!
Bien amicalement à tous,
Cyrille BAUMGARTNER – The Franch Ambassador in North Macedonia
Women of the Year Award
The world would not be the same without the accomplishments of women! And we can be proud of the vast spectrum of women who are admirable and inspirational.
Frida Kahlo, Virginia Woolf, Maria Kiri Sklodovska, and Rosa Luxemburg are just a few of the pioneer women who, in the past, were transformative. Rule-changing, stereotype-breaking women who transcended expectations. Today, we are witnessing female pilots, bus drivers, engineers, artists, doctors, and scientists. But is that enough? EU statistics show that, in Europe, a gender pay gap still exists, and that women work more unpaid hours.
With the intention of raising awareness and ensuring that all labor is recognised, the Delegation of the European Union organised the presentation of the European Woman of the Year award.
The delegations of the EU, Germany, Croatia, Romania, and Sweden nominated five women from different fields in the competition for the award: Ilina Arsova (athlete/ mountaineer), Dina Duma (film director), Natalija Burgieva (founder of Mama Organa), Dita Starova Qerimi (National Gallery director) and Maja Mojsova Mijovska (National Transplant Coordinator).
Symbolically, on March 8, the award was presented in Daut Pashin Amam and the Ambassadors of the five delegations presented certificates of recognition to the nominees for their exceptional work. Ilina Arsova was the winner according to the Social Media public votes.
Exhibition: “Pink Tigers, Golden Lizards and Everything Else”
“The Green Deal is not just a project for environmental protection. It is a turning point and a life change. Changing the way we eat, the way we dress, the way we use transport and the way we function in the community.” – Steffen Hudolin, Head of the EU Delegation Cooperation Section.
We are witnessing the negative changes happening in the environment, and corrective change must start now and in each of us! We know that we need to protect biodiversity, but the question arises: What next?
Inspired by this question and these challenges, the Delegation of the European Union opened the exhibition “Pink Tigers, Golden Lizards and Everything Else” at the EU residence. Several artists were invited to creatively express on this topic through their respective art form.
Vana Uroshevikj and Zoran Todovikj, Velimir Zhernovski, Maja Kirovska, Nenad Tonkin, and Ozbek Ayvaz are the artists who contributed to this exhibition and whose work encourages debates involving participants from different backgrounds.
The exhibition remains open until 20.05.2022, every other Saturday. Book your free ticket: https://forms.gle/V3XjeiCYt6V8f7vq6
Europe House Workshops with High School Students
In the spirit of preserving the environment, Europe House—together with Go Green—organised workshops with high school students from three Skopje high schools: “Algoritam”, “Panche Arsovski” and “Zef Ljus Marku”. Young activists and environmental enthusiasts participated in two-month workshops on topics that tackle air pollution, electricity, and waste management.
After deepening their knowledge of environmental protection, they organized collaborative activities, encouraging change to begin at the personal level, particularly by changing individual habits. Young people remain acutely aware of the importance of preserving the environment. Their desire to take concrete action sets an example for all of us!
Strumica: “Break the Bias” in honour of International Women’s Day
The highlight of the activities organised in the course of this month was the “Break the Bias” event on March 8. In honour of International Women’s Day, Europe House Strumica hosted a unique event with an established quest speaker, Ms Mila IVANOVA. Ms Ivanova is an Inspector in the Terrorism, Violent Extremism and Radicalism Investigation Unit – MIA and OSCE monitoring officer for Ukraine. In an engaging discussion with the young participant, she shared her experiences as a professional woman in different units within the MIA; the Police Academy in Ankara, Republic of Turkey; experiences in INTERPOL, and other services where she has worked. She discussed the stereotypes and prejudices, women, in her profession face and what personally motivated her to fight for equal representation of women in this profession. Ms Ivanova also spoke about her inspiration to choose this profession as her life’s mission. The discussion with Ms Ivanova was truly inspirational for both young boys and girls at the event.
Europe House Kriva Palanka Goes Beyond the Status Quo
Kriva Palanka is well known for networking with young people from both the region and from other countries. This month they exceeded all expectations and hosted youth from three EU countries!
An Erasmus Plus creative workshop and info session was held with youth from Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, and Turkey who visited Europe House Kriva Palanka and met with local and regional youth from our country.
This session aimed to meet and network, as well as to share Erasmus Plus information with local youth who are interested in joining the Erasmus Plus Programme.
