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The 12th FACE-meeting took place from July 11-17 in Bratislava, Slovakia and it was a huge success.
In public discussions, the young generation is often accused of displaying a general disinterest towards Europe and politics. During the 12th FACE Youth meeting we witnessed quite the contrary. Sixty teenagers from ten different countries had the great opportunity to meet their European neighbours, to work together, spend their free time together and learn a lot about regional politics and their common European heritage.
On behalf of the young participants from Portugal, Poland, Spain, Luxemburg, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the UK I would like to thank Eva Kustekova, Martin Kolarik and their team for their great hospitality and for organising a remarkable, highly instructive and unforgettable youth meeting. The young people were offered an unprecedented programme: they were introduced to three different countries, met and debated with regional politicians in Bratislava, Brno and Györ and thus got to know the biggest part of the Centrope region. They also worked at home and presented the results of this work during the meeting - showing great enthusiasm and creativity. They worked in multinational workshops, shared their rooms with their friends from all over Europe, practiced their language skills and thus enlargened their knowledge about their European neighbours.
Knowledge is the key to openness, tolerance and mutual understanding. When the young people went back to their home countries after the meeting, they were able to share their new knowledge and experiences with their family and friends – and maybe also with some of those who are still full of prejudice about Europe. So this meeting was another, a decisive step for them on their way to becoming active and responsible European citizens.
Let us hope for FACE to flourish so that we can conduct many more meetings for a peaceful and enlightened Europe of the future.
Regine Lorenz, President
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