Students of theMediterranean University of Reggio Calabria protagonists of a significant training experience at the European Parliament, where they confronted the highest positions of the European Commission on the opportunities that Europe offers young people. The initiative was promoted by the Hon. Giusi Princi, MEP FI-APP. The experience in Brussels offered the young Calabrians the opportunity to know closely the functioning of the European institutions and to explore the concrete possibilities that Europe makes available to the new generations.
“It is a great honor for me and a profound joy to have welcomed these young people like my special guests,” he says Giusi Princthe. “This visit was an opportunity – he continues – for build an increasingly stronger link between young people and European institutions. It is above all a way because young people feel the active part of this large community which is Europe, understanding closely the functioning of the home of European democracy, a place where the policies that shape their present and future are built. These guys are the lifeblood of a beautiful country, Italy, and of a glorious land, Calabria and the whole South. It is with them and for them that we work every day to create opportunities and strengthen the link with Europe, making their growth and territories for which their skills must become a development engine central“, Added Giusi Princi.
“During the visit -he continues -, the student delegation had the opportunity to meet Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, members of the Cabinet of the Vice President of the European Commission, Roxana Minzatu. At the center of the comparison, fundamental themes for the future of young Europeans emerged: the Erasmus+program, a symbol of the possibilities of international mobility for study and training, the union of skills at European level as an added value in personal and professional training, the university educational alliances that favor the collaboration between the universities of several Member States. Of particular importance was, then, the testimony of Annacarola Coda, policy officer at the General Directorate of Partnerships for Parliamentary Democracy of the European Parliamentwho shared his direct experience with the boys, of how, thanks to the opportunities offered by European programs he studied, he has formed, today he sits in the commission and transmits to young people the example of those who did it thanks to Europe and to having believed in itself and in their abilities. The experience lived in Brussels by the boys – continues Giusi Princi – has allowed the students of become ambassadors of European values and opportunities. I hope this path can only be the beginning of a journey together to build a better future for our Calabria, for Italy and Europe. In such a delicate moment, in which dangerous anti -European drifts spread, recalling our young people to the founding values of the European project becomes essential. Italy, as the founding country of the European Union, has always played a central role in the construction of this common home. Alcide De Gasperitogether with the other founding fathers, he imagined a united Europe in diversity, instilling those principles of solidarity and collaboration in the treaties that are still our lighthouse today. It is precisely in these difficult times – underlines Princi – that we must remind young people the importance of that visionary project, because they can understand that Europe is not only a distant institution, but a common heritage built with sacrifice and foresight. Our Calabrian boys, returning home, brought with them not only the knowledge of the concrete opportunities offered by the Union, but also a renewed awareness of the importance of being European citizens active and participating“.
The experience of young people in Brussels was told by Giusi Princi on social media in a short video that in a few hours recorded over 15 thousand views, testifying to how young young people need to feel close to Europe and its values.