The EU teaches Azerbaijani students how to become politicians

Baku/11.02.18/Turan: The General Assembly of the European Union (EU) Model on the migration issue, which has been on the agenda of many international events lately took place in Baku. The European politicians, parliamentarians and ministers did not have to come from Brussels to the Azerbaijani capital, and did not need skype, used for organizing webinars.

The beginners- Azerbaijani lawyers, economists, managers, diplomats and even students of universities and schoolchildren successfully appeared in the role of Western high-ranking officials. The imitated EU General Assembly was the final stage of a new project initiated by the Baku office of the European Youth Parliament (EYP). The Azerbaijani representation of the EU supported the idea of the project.

The fact that the Ambassador of the EU to Azerbaijan and the head of the delegation of this organization Kestutis Jankauskas, despite the fact that he flew from Brussels to Baku on Sunday morning (5 am), considered it important and obligatory to personally meet the project participants, to tell them about the role of youth in building a modern world and developing their countries. Therefore, at the appointed time - at 9.30 am, the diplomat entered the Lahich hall of the Landmark hotel and delivered a short welcome speech. He spoke about the history of the creation and development of the EU, its structure, political and economic agreements between the member countries of the organization.

It should be noted that the Model of the European Union is a role-playing game and a training conference that develops the format of role-playing games that imitates the work of leading international organizations. The principle of the game The EU model is in many respects similar to the more widespread and, for objective reasons, simpler than the UN Model. The first modeling conferences arose in the 1970s, mainly in Latin America. In Russia, the first attempt was made on the basis of MGIMO. Then the baton was picked up by other universities. The result of the experiment was the original game, where, in addition to the EU institutions, the work of public structures - mass media, representatives of interest groups, transnational companies and public associations - is modeled.

The project coordinator Milana Ibrahimova told Turan that the EMP is a youth platform that exists in 40 countries of the world, including Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine. In our country it has been operating since 2011. Its partners are state organizations and NGOs. This project started in December 2017, it consists of several stages. Firstly, trainings were held for the project participants, who were informed in detail about the formation and development of the EU, the integration processes, the expansion, etc. Then, the participants identified and discussed the topic, each of them assigned the role of a high-ranking official from the EU and the European Parliament. A draft document has been prepared reflecting the position of all EU states. The so-called EU General Assembly should adopt a resolution on the deployment of migrants within its borders. Each "representative" of the EU and the EP must express their opinion on the effectiveness of the way out of the migration crisis, based on the interests of "their country".

Meanwhile, 35 Azerbaijani boys and girls, participated in the lively debate. Samad Mirzoyev represented Belgium, Sabie Aliyeva - Finland, Magsud Hasanov - France, Murad Abdullayev - France. The working language of the event was English, as is customary in the EU. Someone proposed to distribute the migration flow equally among the member countries of the Union, the other was categorically against this option, referring to the country's economic opportunities. Indeed, the budget and the territories of Germany and France do not compare with the resources of Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

In breaks young people, trying on themselves the role of European politicians, ministers with their outlook, psychology, continued to argue, defend the interests of "their own countries."

What do such role games, discussions, disputes within the EU Model dive the young people? Pervin Pashazade graduated from the Belarusian State University with a degree in law and a master's degree in international relations. He read the information on the project on the Internet, decided to take part in it. According to him, during the staged meetings of the EU they plunged into a real atmosphere of discussions of certain issues in the EU meetings. These studies showed how the structures of the Union interact, their tasks, how to make a decision, while not giving up their principles, understanding the logic of certain political actions.

Jeyran Jafarova is a student at the ADA University with a degree in international relations. According to the future diplomat, participation in this project has taught her a lot, first of all she acquired the skills of conducting political negotiations and debates, persuading opponents, attracting them to her side, defending the interests of her country.

The discussions at the EU Assembly resulted in the adoption of the Baku Resolution on Migrants with some additions and changes. -0-