
The Greek National Network has been active in the month of May, by hosting activities but also opening a new space for outreach and action. In that respect, in the mids of it hosted a debate and a meeting of the members of ALF in Athens. With regard to the debate, the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Europe Direct Information Centre at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (Europe Direct ELIAMEP), in cooperation with the Foundation’s network coordinator in Athens and the School of Law’s Debate Society (University of Athens), organized a debate event to present the EU-supported Young Mediterranean Voices (YMV) program to their network members and the wider public. The Debate took place on the occasion of the celebrations for the Day of Europe and the theme was “This House believes the EU should prioritize stability over exporting democracy in foreign policy.”
This activity also included two other actions: a visit (on the evening of May the 8 th ) to the School of Law’s Debate Society’s premises at the University of Athens in order for the Arab debaters to come to know the Society, its members and their approach to debating, and an informal gathering (the same day, in the morning) of the Athenian institutions that are practicing and promoting debates in Greece, where we presented the YMV program and ALF, whereas the discussion concluded with the expressed will to have other such meeting in order to bring together the relevant institutions and activate ALF within this community.
With regard to the meeting with the members of ALF in Athens, this took place on the morning of the 9 th of May, at the premises of one our members, at Welcommon. There were 14 members present and we had the opportunity to present the YMV and the Virtual Exchange one, but also to update our members about the developments within ALF during the last year and a half (from our last in person meeting with our members), present the ongoing actions and programs and the new framework of membership and cooperation. A special reference was also made to Med Forum in Croatia as indeed to the preparatory and pre forum events that are going to take place in Thessaloniki (including the heads meeting there). There was an exchange of views and a renewed interest on ALF’s activities, but also the first announcement on opening the call for the focal point of our network.