Isn’t it unbelievable: Just twenty years ago, there was a tough border between Eastern and Western Europe. The border was not only a physical, but also mental. People here and there didn’t know much about each other and what they knew was quite often based on unrealistic stereotypes.
Since the iron curtain has come down in November 1989 Europe needed to be defined in a new way. Suddenly, a continent grew together and Eastern and Western Europeans had the chance to get in touch together. Since then, this new co-existence has grown and grown and turned into the integration of Eastern Europe into the European Union.
It is amazing for me when I travel through the Eastern part of our continent to see that there are still a lot of differences. Not only mentally, much more economically. Even though some countries have made great developments, they are still behind the standards of the West. But on the other hand it has to be acknowledged that Eastern European countries have developed a lot since they got rid of the old communistic system. And, in my view, this is also thanks to the youth. Each time when I visited Eastern European countries I was surprised how ambitious young people are. How entrepreneurial they act and how they really have the spirit of working hard to bring their country further.
It is so surprising for me because it’s exactly the enthusiasm that I miss sometimes in young people that I meet here. I live in Switzerland, which is maybe the wealthiest country in the world. Wealth is a good thing if a lot of people can participate in it, which is definitely the case here. But wealth can also make people lazy, especially the youth. As they are provided with all what they need, they lay back and put on this “serve-me”-attitude. Of course, this is one of the disadvantages when a country has a high standard of living: People can be spoiled.
In contrast, many Eastern European countries still have to work hard to get out of poverty. It is fascinating for me to see that the young people really seem to share a dream of a better country and that they are determined to work for it. And I do know that it is not always easy. There are drawbacks, especially where the economic situation is devastating and young people do not see any future for themselves. Which leads to emigration because they want find their luck elsewhere. They cannot be blamed. I have friends in the Baltic countries that are intelligent, smart and willing to bring their country to the next level. But as they all lost their job and couldn’t even afford food on a daily basis, they left to Germany and England.
So even though I am fascinated by seeing the ambitious youth, it also makes me sad that it is impossible for them to survive in a political system that has failed to build up a long-lasting job market and that is still intrigued by politicians whose first priority is to use the governmental structures to make themselves richer, while the people in the country are suffering.
I am really looking forward to my stay in Cluj. I have never been to Romania and so I am excited about what I will find and discover, about how the people will be and how the country is run. I read a couple of articles about the most recent political developments in Romania and I really was disappointed by the fact that elections still need to be decided in courtrooms. In the other hand: At least there is the possibility to vote – something that people would have dreamt about not so long ago.
I am eager to find out more about the social and economic situation in Romania. And of course how minorities are being treated, such as people from Moldavia. On top of all, I am looking forward to find out what draws Moldavian young people to leave their country and try their luck somewhere else.
I do know that there is still a lot of poverty in Eastern Europe. But there is also poverty in other European countries, such as Spain and Greece. Europe is very diverse, and in its diversity lays its power. As a Swiss, I live on the top level of European standards. I am fully aware of the fact that our standard is not the average. But for this, it has also to be understood that Switzerland was once a poor country as well and it took even centuries to turn my country into one of the most innovative economies mies in the world.
I think even though there are still a lot of people that have to lead an easy life in Eastern Europe, many of the countries are much better off now than hey were two decades ago. There is no reason that this process needs to be reversed. And it’s you, the young people of today, who have the power, the ambition and the knowledge to keep this important process of improving your country going.

Sven Gallinelli, Switzerland

Revista Accent Basarabean, Nr. 1