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“A magnificent occasion to meet people, exchange ideas, form friendships and especially work together to give our society the chance to live in peace and in love”: that’s how the Serbian students Radmila Batricevic, Ivana Ikonic and Ivana Vijkov, describe the “Second meeting of European youth”, held in Fiume (Croatia) and Cividale del Friuli (Udine) in recent days. The meeting was promoted by the Cividale Charter an association founded in 2003 for the creation of a network between European youth and institutions – in collaboration with the Central-European Initiative, the archdiocese of Udine, the Union of Jewish Youth of Italy and the Union of Moslem Youth of Italy. 85 university students were present; they came from Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Moldavia, Poland, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the USA. The connecting thread was love: love in social and political systems, in literature and in art, in philosophic and religious traditions. “An unusual theme but one that permits us, in spite of our cultural differences, to achieve common objectives on the basis of mutual understanding. That’s why I now feel myself strengthened in the conviction of being able to construct Europe as a real Union”, observed Marin Belavic from Croatia. Dumutru Alaiba from Moldavia launched a message of hope with which he affirmed that to all intents and purposes he felt himself to be a “European citizen”: “speaking of love among us enabled us to exchange truths. In our time, dominated by the current system of values, it’s very difficult to believe in love. But I remain convinced of the fact that if there is no love, there’s nothing”. Mojca Bogataj from Slovenia summed up the results of the meeting and its spirit as follows. “Today’s meeting is the second in which I have had the pleasure of participating. Two years ago I was a “simple” participant, a non-EU outsider representing her own country that is not yet a member of the EU: in recent days I assumed the role of tutor, with an even closer bond with students. We started out from what was a relation between neighbours but after only three days achieved a relation between friends. I hope that the friendships thus forged may be strengthened and continue, and why not? help to enrich the future of Europe”.
