JEF Hungary takes part in the International Berlin Seminar

Between the 19th and 22nd of August, members of JEF Hungary had the opportunity to join the International Berlin Seminar hosted by JEF Deutschland. It gave us the chance to meet young Europeans from multiple nations across the continent, and to participate in discussions on several pertinent issues democracy and the rule of law faces. The Covid-19 pandemic has further strengthened authoritarian tendencies in numerous countries, while the principle of the rule of law, a cornerstone of EU politics, has been neglected.

JEF Hungary was represented by four of our members. We arrived to Berlin Brandenburg Airport on a Thursday, and after a trip with the U-Bahn we were already at our accommodation and first round of introductions went underway. The seminar was made up of 30 plus people from several German regions, as well as from France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Bulgaria, Malta, Kosovo and many more. Once the formalities were dealt with, we began to mingle with our European compatriots. The next morning after breakfast, all participants went together to the European House Berlin, where the European Commission is represented in Germany. Here we were fortunate enough to listen to the expert input and presentation by Nikolaus von Peter on the challenges the European Commission faces, as well as from Gernot Wolfram on the topic of disinformation and the spread of fake news. Not only did we learn a lot from experts on the topic, but it opened the floor for a very interesting discussion. After returning to our accommodation for lunch, it was time to get to know the city of Berlin. Our amazing hosts created smaller groups, and we were sent on an elaborate scavenger hunt consisting of 8 stations, which led us through the sights of Berlin, all while solving riddles and questions. This was a great opportunity for us not only to get to know the German capital, but also our fellow seminar participants.

Saturday was the main course for our stay in Berlin. Based on our preferences and knowledge we were divided in to three groups. The topics discussed within each group were as follows: “Post-factual era- are mis- and disinformation a threat to democracy”; “Populism as a style of governance” and “Human rights and non-discrimination”. I took part in the workshop on Populism and thus can give an account of what we did. Firstly, we listened to an in-depth presentation on how the academic world defines populism, and what forms of it we can observe worldwide. Then in smaller groups we all had to gather points to what might be the economic, social, and cultural roots for people leaning towards populist parties. This provided us with an expansive overview for what might be the reasons why people tend to vote for populist parties more and more. This was followed by a simulation in which a theoretical country is currently undergoing elections, where in the past decade a populist party has been rapidly gaining votes. We each represented traditional parties, such as the conservatives, socialists, liberals, greens and so forth. Our task was to come up with ideas how our parties would be reformed and what kind of message we would convey towards our voters in order to gain back previously lost votes. This was a great exercise for us to draw conclusions from real life, on why populist parties are on a rise and how parties can adapt to the changing needs and expectation of voters. This workshop took up most of our day and all that was left for the evening were social events organised by our hosts. This day gave us the opportunity to debate and attempt to come to solutions on these previously mentioned issues with fellow young Europeans, who might not all share the same ideas and methods but wanted to arrive at similar conclusions. The values shared across the board were the importance of European unity and collaboration. We all managed to learn something new, as well as to be able to formulate our own thoughts in a concise manner.

Our last day, after breakfast, began with a few people from each of the main discussion groups presenting what they have discussed, learned about in their respective groups as well as the conclusions they have arrived to. This was perfect for us to gain a quick insight and overview of the topics other groups have delved into. Once this was over with, questions had been answered, conclusions drawn up, our International Berlin Seminar had officially ended. After we had given the organizers stellar feedback on their event, we still had a few hours to have lunch with and chat with our newly made friends from all over Europe.

All-encompassing topics were discussed, friendships were made and for us most importantly, a resounding support for the workings of JEF Hungary was received. We are incredibly proud to be a part of the JEF family, and plan on using the knowledge and connections we have made here to further advance European unity and collaboration. We would like to thank the organising team of JEF Deutschland for this incredible event, as well as all participants of the seminar.