PSU Student at X Russian-German Youth Parliament “Internet: freedom of speech, personal responsibility, and state duties”

From 30th of November to 5th of December Germany (the cities of Potsdam and Berlin) hosted X Russian-German Youth Parliament regarding “Internet: freedom of speech, personal responsibility, and state duties”. A competent jury consisting of representatives of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs of the Russian Federation, National Youth Council of Russia, Russian National Coordination Bureau for Youth Exchange with the Federal Republic of Germany, and Foundation “German-Russian Youth Exchange”, chose 25 Russian participants out of more than 300 applications. The participants represented the cities of Moscow, Tver, Ryazan, Nizhni Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Makhachkala, Yaroslavl, Rostov-on-Don, Izhevsk, Kazan, Saransk, Penza, Arkhangelsk, Tyumen, Barnaul, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok.

The Penza Region was represented by Alyona Shestakova, the student of the Institute of Economics and Administration, Penza State University.

For the first time 50 young activists from Germany and Russia brought to life the model of German Parliament and legislative process in the Bundestag. Plenary meetings took place in Landtag (Legislative Assembly), Brandenburg. Moreover, the participants gathered in three committees: for internal affairs, democracy and economics. Alyona Shestakova was elected Chairman of the Committee for Economics.

The young members of parliament were invited to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Germany and to the RF Embassy in Berlin where they met Germany government commissioner Gernot Erler and RF ambassador in Germany Vladimir Grinin.

In the course of work and informal communication the Russian-German Youth Parliament achieved its goal – active dialogue and cooperation among young people of the countries-participants. Nowadays the relationships between Russian and Germany are being challenged; the cooperation between our countries is being disorganized. However, it is necessary to keep trust and diversity of mutual cooperation forms, which have been developing for ten years; to restore normal two-way relations. Neither Russia, nor Germany can exist without close cooperation and interaction in terms of European integration.