Goodbye Cyprus...

Some people already returned home, others went to the post event and some others stay a bit longer to enjoy some days at the beach and relax after an exciting Agora. The last days were full of surprises some might say full of controversy. Let me try to give you an idea what has been happening the last three days.

Everything started with a long journey from Larnaca Airport to Near East University. For most people their flight had arrived at Larnaka in the middle of the night, so there was hardly time to sleep. In the morning being half awake, some decided to go to Larnaca beach first, others directly tried to go to Nicosia. The problem was to find out which bus to take. A Cypriot bus driver told us: “The bus to Nicosia? It’s coming, just wait!” However, nearly everybody had to wait for at least one hour somewhere on Cyprus. Nevertheless, in the end everybody arrived in the AEGEE Neighbourhood.

The organizers prepared apartments for the participants, which were actually still under construction, so some girls on high-heels had serious problems to manage the tracking. The whole Agora took place at the campus of Near East University, which is a little “town” of 20.000 students close to Nicosia. The concept of walking buses was not new to those who had attended Agora Aachen, however, at Agora Magusa the organizers themselves didn’t know where to go. That’s why the plenary often started with only half of the people present.

In comparison to the last Agorae, there was quite a lot happening this time. The discussion about the Intranet, which has started already on several mailing lists before the MagusAgora, was continued intensively. There were a lot of questions on the presented AR of the CD in Thursday morning session. Suddenly, the contract about the Intranet, which was up to that moment been held secret, turned up. This was the catalyst for a lot of dicussions about the transparency and the implementation process of the whole project and finally led to the postponement of the voting on the AR to Friday. The progress meeting on the Intranet was brought forward. It had the shape of a question-and-answer round, in which the audience could ask questions to Dragan and Robin.
In the following plenary session the voting on the Activity Report took place and, as you all might know already, it has not been approved. About 6 votes tipped the scales, so it was a quite narrow majority. As a consequence the current CD isn’t disburdened and therefore could still be brought to book for their whole term. Nevertheless, the CD decided to stay in office and promised to improve communication and cooperation with the network. I haven’t checked AEGEE’s whole history, but till MagusAgora the CD always resigned after a negative vote on the AR.

Only one day later, a group of more than 10 members of the Agora initiated a vote of confidence. The intention was to confirm the confidence of the network towards the CD. In the past, the intention of a vote of confidence against the CD was usually the opposite.
The vote of confidence has been positive. On the first sight that might seem to be controversial to the negative vote on the AR. For sure, every single delegate had his/ her reasons why he voted in that way. The initiators surely want to show their confidence in the CD. The delegates voting against the vote of confidence don’t trust the current CD anymore and want to replace it or rather kick out some of the CD members. Moreover, there seems to be a bunch of people who want the CD to continue the work they started and evaluate it at next Agora. In other words: “You've made your bed, now you must lie in it.”

As you probably all received the election results on AEGEE-L, you know that there will only be 6 CD members after September 2009. That means that they need to distribute all the tasks among them and it will be interesting to see who will take over which duties. In their presentations at the Agora, it was not clear who will take over Public Relations and Human Ressources, so maybe there will be new combination in task division in a fresh CD with new motivation and working style. Agata, our new president, emphasized the key-role of the network in AEGEE and would like to unite the AEGEE family. It is likely, AEGEE will see a change in the style of leadership. Hopefully, she won’t lose sight of her dream.

Unfortunately, for some the trip back to the airport rather was a nightmare instead of a beautiful dream about a strong AEGEE in the future.
After the closure of the Spring Agora 2009, those who did not go to the last party, had to pack their stuff and leave for the airport. The organizers had prepared transportation from the Campus to the border and provided taxies from Nicosia to Larnaca Airport. Unfortunately, their were not enough taxies at the check point. So people had to move together (7 in one limousine) with the luggage on the top of the car. The driver was almost flying to the airport with 140 km/h (although it was not clearly measurable because of a jumping speedometer) with his 35 year old Mercedes Benz. Suddenly their was a bump in the road and one of the suitcases fell down on the highway. The car behind had to slam on the brakes. The driver stopped the car on the emergency lane. Somebody had to went back to search for the lost luggage. All the other passengers were waiting behind the side rail. Some 15 minutes later the adventurous trip continued and finally all people arrived in time to catch their flight.
One thing is for sure: All participants will never forget MagusAgora!!!

Voting and Election Results

Voting Results
 
Activity Report of the Comité Directeur
Total amount of votes:  225
Valid votes:  224
 
Votes in favour:  99 (44.2%)
Votes against:  104 (46.42%)
Abstention  21 (9.38%)
 
The Activity Report of the Comité Directeur has NOT been approved
 
---
 
Closure Financial Report 2008
Total amount of votes:  204
Valid votes:  204
 
Votes in favour:  161 (78.92%)
Votes against:  21 (10.29%)
Abstention  22 (10.78%)
 
The Financial Report 2008 of AEGEE-Europe has been approved
 
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Member’s Commission Decision on the AEGEE-Bologna Case
Total amount of votes:  206
ALL valid votes
 
Votes in favour:  190 (92,2%)
Votes against:  6 (2,9%)
Abstention  10 (4,9%)
 
The Member’s commission decision on the AEGEE-Bologna case has been approved
 
----
 
Commissions Proposal
Total amount of votes:  197
Valid votes:  197
 
Votes in favour: 157 (79.7%)
Votes against: 28 (14.21%)
Abstention 12 (6.09%)
 
The commission proposal has been approved
 
----
 
Proposal on the AR/FR of the outgoing Comité Directeur
Total amount of votes:  200
Valid votes:  198
 
Votes in favour:               182         (91.92%)
Votes against:                  2             (1.01%)
Abstention                        14           (7.07%)
 
The Proposal on the AR/FR of the outgoing Comité Directeur has been approved
 
---
 
Vote of Confidence on the Comité Directeur
Total amount of votes: 266
ALL valid votes
 
Votes in favour:                              207         (77.82%)
Votes against:                  36           (13.53%)
Abstention                        23           (8.65%)
 
A positive vote of confidence on the Comite Directeur has been given
 
---
 
Interim Financial Report 2009
Total amount of votes: 265
Valid votes:  265
 
Votes in favour:                              179         (67.55%)
Votes against:                  22           (8.3%)
Abstention                        64           (24.15%)
 
The interim Financial Report 2009 of AEGEE-Europe has been approved
 
---
 
Budget 2009 – Update
Total amount of votes: 265
Valid votes:  265
 
Votes in favour:                              179         (67.55%)
Votes against:                  22           (8.3%)
Abstention                        64           (24.15%)
 
The interim Financial Report 2009 of AEGEE-Europe has been approved
 
---
 
Flagship Topic
Total amount of votes: 266
Valid votes:  266
 
Beyond Europe:                                              147         (55,26%)
Borders of Europe:                                        31           (11,65%)
European Youth Employment                   87           (32,71%)
Abstentions                                                     1             (0.38%)
 
The Flagship Topic 2010-2012 will be “Beyond Europe”
 
---
 
Membership Fee Proposal
Total amount of votes: 261
ALL valid votes
 
Votes in favour:                              90           (34.48%)
Votes against:                  150         (57.47%)
Abstention                        21           (8.05%)
 
The membership fees proposal has NOT been approved
 
---
 
Proposal to change the Financial Year
Total amount of votes: 265
Valid votes: 265
 
Votes in favour:                              215         (81.13%)
Votes against:                  11           (4.15%)
Abstention                        39           (14.72%)
 
The proposal to change the financial year has been approved
 
---
 
MemCom Minimum Proposal
Total amount of votes: 268
ALL valid votes
 
Votes in favour:                              221         (82.46%)
Votes against:                  10           (3.73%)
Abstention                        37           (13.81%)
 
The MemCom minimum proposal has been approved
 
---
 
Secretary Reimbursement Proposal
Total amount of votes: 261
ALL valid votes
 
Votes in favour:                              223         (85.44%)
Votes against:                  6             (2.3%)
Abstention                        32           (12.26%)
 
The Secretary Reimbursement proposal has been approved

----

Election results
 
Audit Commission
Total amount of votes: 262
Valid votes:  252
 
Enrico Borella                    185         (73.41%)
Miroslaw Krzanik             175         (69.44%)
Jeroen Straten                 161         (63.89%)
--------
Francesco De Luca          73           (28.97%)
Pawel Pudlo                      62           (24.60%)
 
Enrico, Miroslaw and Jeroen are elected
Enrico is the president of the Audit Commission
 
---
 
Members Commission
Total amount of votes: 264
Valid votes:  251
 
Bernhard Mitterlehner                                227         (90.44% )
Hayal Yildiz                                         156         (62.15% )
Nikola Miladinovic                          143         (56,97% )
Wouter van der Broek                  140         (55,78% )
-------
Marika Heymann                            99           (39,44% )
 
Bernhard, Hayal, Nikola and Wouter are elected
Bernhard is the president of the Members Commission
 
---
 
Network Commission
Total amount of votes:  264
Valid votes:  263
 
Oscar Ronda Prieto        222         (84.41% )
Natalia Hubert                  199         (75.67% )
Thomas Leszke                181         (68.82% )
Sebastiano Perale           167         (63.5% )
Kairi Puss                            154         (58.56% )
Miljan Radunovic            154         (58.56% )
Olga Litvyak                       103         (39.16% )
---------
Lukasz Kapinos                 43           (16.35% )
 
Oscar, Natalia, Thomas, Sebastiano, Kairi, Miljan and Olga are elected
Lukasz is not elected
 
---
 
Juridical Commission
Total amount of votes: 263
Valid votes:  246
 
Mirjam Dickmeis             230         (93.5% )
Ester de Koning                               182         (73.98% )
 
All candidates are elected
Mirjam is the president of the Juridical Commission
 
---
 
Secretary of the Agora
Total amount of votes: 264
ALL valid votes
 
Carlijn van de Meulenhof                           256         (96.97% )
 
The candidate is elected
Carlijn van de Meulenhof is the next Secretary of the Agora
 
---
 
Member of the Comité Directeur
Total amount of votes: 264
ALL valid votes
 
Agnes Leyrer                                    227         (85.98% )
Anita Kalmane                                 201         (76.14% )
Denis Maksimov                             169         (64.02% )
---------
Mustafa Dinc                                    75           (28.41% )
 
Agnes, Anita and Denis are elected
 
---
 
Secretary General
Total amount of votes: 262
Valid votes:  260
 
Olga Basova                       216         (83.08% )
 
The candidate is elected.
Olga Basova is the next Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe
 
---
 
Financial Director
Total amount of votes: 264
Valid votes:  264
 
Nico Huurman                  255         (96.6% )
 
The candidate is elected.
Nico Huurman is the next Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe
 
--
 
President of AEGEE-Europe
Total amount of votes: 263
ALL valid votes
 
Agata Patecka                  161         (61.22% )
Percin Imrek                     102         (38.78% )
 
Agata Patecka is next President of AEGEE-Europe

Result: Vote of Confidence

The results of the vote of confidence have just been published.

in favor: 207 (77.82%)
against: 36 (13.53%)
abstention: 23 (8.65%)

266 votes valid

The vote of confidence has been given!

Many people stood up clapping for the CD. Dragan went to stage and said: "When I went to Brussels 1/1/2 years a go, my father said: 'you will work like a horse and nobody will thank you.' I am glad my father was wrong."

Visual Identity

Yesterday evening was a Progress Meeting on the Visual Identity of AEGEE. As you probably all know, the presented Logo from EBM Torino was criticed a lot and therefore Robin Verschuren tries to identify the opinion of the network about the logo issue. That is for sure not an easy task, because there are many people who just don't want to change anything and keep the current one. Others see the need to improve AEGEE's current situation, however, their opinions how to do that are quite diverse. During the Progresss Meeting many points came up and were discussed. The current AEGEE logo was compared with the logos of other European Student Oragnizations, the proposal from EBM (Thanks to the Dutch guy from "AEGEE-Drienerlo" for the living example)was discussed and what the next steps will be.
The conclusion was that there will be various logo proposals according to the ideas gathered at several meetings like the one yesterday. These proposals will be presented to the network. There will be an open call for a team working on it. It seems the message was understood and a new working format will be implemented. Let's see what will happen on this issue the next weeks or months.

Saturday Morning Surprises

The plenary started at 10 o'clock, nevertheless there were only half of the partcicipants present and maybe missed one of the most important happenings during this Agora. There was a vote of confidence- the initiators want to show their support to the current CD and hope for a majority to be in favor. There were a lot of questions how to vote now and in case of a negative result, who can candidate.
In the meanwhile all elections have been taken place and we are waiting during the "tanning workshop" on the grass in front of the plenary buidling. Everybody is waiting for the results and the reactions from the CD however the result will be. So far the atmosphere seems to be rather optimistic, but Agora can always bring up unexpected results.

Voting results from Friday plenary sessions

Here are the votes from Friday:

---

Activity Report of the Comite’ Directeur

Total amount of votes: 225

Valid votes: 224

Votes in favour: 99 (44.2%)

Votes against: 104 (46.42%)

Abstention 21 (9.38%)

The Activity Report of the Comite’ Directeur has NOT been approved.

----

Closure Financial Report 2008

Total amount of votes: 204

Valid votes: 204

Votes in favour: 161 (78.92%)

Votes against: 21 (10.29%)

Abstention 22 (10.78%)

The Financial Report 2008 of AEGEE-Europe has been approved

----

Member’s commission decision on the AEGEE-Bologna case

Total amount of votes: 206

ALL valid votes

Votes in favour: 190 (92,2%)

Votes against: 6 (2,9%)

Abstention 10 (4,9%)

The Member’s commission decision on the AEGEE-Bologna case has been approved

----

Commission Proposal

Total amount of votes: 197

Valid votes: 197

Votes in favour: 157 (79.7%)

Votes against: 28 (14.21%)

Abstention 12 (6.09%)

The commission proposal has been approved

----

Proposal on the AR/FR of the outgoing Comité Directeur

Total amount of votes: 200

Valid votes: 198

Votes in favour: 182 (91.92%)

Votes against: 2 (1.01%)

Abstention 14 (7.07%)

The Proposal on the AR/FR of the outgoing Comité Directeur has been approved

Transparency - Bullshit

The Progress Meeting taking place this morning answered some questions about the intranet contract, but some were not satisfied with all the answers given. The contract as such is legally okay, but the participants were especially intersted in the progress and who took the decision about specifications and the communication progress. Dragan and Robin explained the contract, however, it became clear that there was no real internal call for volunteers with IT background (maybe paid for there effort) and only a limited open call for companies (It was stated that 4 companies made offers, but Dragan couldn't show the documents with concrete prices.) The next problem are the trainings for IT people to sustain the new intranet. There is no word about it in the contract, according to Dragan the Company are willing to give trainings in Serbia, so let's hope this will take place without further payment.
In the following plenary, Dragan gave a short summary of the main topics discussed. During his speech he said "Transparency" na dthis was the last word missing in the "bullshit bingo" some people were playing during the plenary :-)

The last news from the plenary: The CD will not resign. They understand the rejection of the AR in a way that the Agora is satisfied with their actions as such, but not with the way of communication and contact to the network.

Right now, the Candidates for the CD are presenting themselves. We will keep u updated about all new developments happening on Cyprus.

Isabell

AR has not been accepted!

A few minutes ago, the Voting results of the Plenary before lunch were announced. The Activity Report of the CD was not approved.
The Financial Report was approved
all proposals have been accepted.
Percentages will follow right after the plenary. (Sorry the presentation of the voting results were too quick :-(
It will be curious how the CD will now react on this decision. On last Agoras, when the Activity Report was not accepted, the CD resigned... It will be interesting!

Isabell

Unexpected inofficial Meeting about the Contract for the Intranet

When you follow our MagusAgora blog you might have recognized, that the Intranet was the dominant topic at this Agora so far. There were many questions to the CD, especially to Dragan, about the new Intranet. Among others, the lack of transparency in this issue, the conflict between ITWG and Dragan and many many more were pointed out.
Last evening some members surprisingly got a copy of the contract which has been kept secret till now. Therefore, the voting on the approval of the Activity Report of the CD was postponed to Saturday morning so that there is the chance to check the contract and discuss it.
This was done during a small inofficial meeting Thursday night. As there was nobody with juridical background present, it was not possible to figure out if there are any legal problems in it or not, but some questions were collected for the CD to answer either in a second question round on the Intranet (if allowed by the Chair) or in written form before the voting on the Activity Report.
The new Intranet will be presented Friday evening to the whole network. All the ones who were not at the EBM in Torino are very much looking forward to this agenda slot/ point. Maybe there will be time to discuss some unclear points, maybe some surprises will happen… ;-)
So keep on reading and you will get to know!

Isabell

Friday

Today we have a very sunny day again. For a chance, the breakfast did not take place inside but outside, so we could enjoy a sandwich and some juice on our way to the plenary room, where candidature powerpoint presentations are tested (whether they are running smoothly) and some event promotion videos are shown while the plenary is getting fuller by the minute.
Today we will see the Financial Report 2008 presentation, the MemCom case, some more prytannia and presentations of candidates. In the end, we will have the progress meetings.
So it will definitely be a very interesting Agora day today. :-)

Verena

Thursday

Today the official programme of the Agora started as usual with a speech by the President of AEGEE-Europe, Dragan Stojanovski. Also, the statutes of principles were presented. This time, Agora participants and CD members presented it in different languages on a clip.
After the ratification of the agenda, the CD presented its Activity Report for which a long question line of roughly 20 Agora participants queued up. Before presenting the AR as such, Dragan said some words about Anita Bosneva, who could not come to the Agora as health issues still prevent her from returning to the CD. Dragan expressed that the CD supports Anitas wish to remain CD member (instead of resignation) as this would give her strength and pride which could help her presently.

As could be expected, most questions were related to communication within the CD and CD->network, the Intranet (contract), while the logo was not a hot topic anymore.
Therefore, the Activity Reports of the WGs saw also a short question line, where all questions went to ITWG to answer questions concerning the new Intranet.
Right now, after the Activity Reports of WGs, Commissions are presenting their past activities. The JC is asked about data privacy and the Intranet.

Also, a representative of EMSA introduced us to her organisation.

The end of the day will be the voting on the AR of the CD, before there will be dinner and another party. Let's hope that the day won't end as it has started- rainy - but soon it has become sunny again, so let's hope we will have sun the next days.

Verena

The Agora is officially opened!!!

Five minutes ago, the Chair Team welcomed all participants to the first plenary. A Representative of the University gave us some warm words of welcome. Right now the President of AEGEE-Europe, Dragan Stojanovski, is giving his welcome speech. He figured out the most important points of the agenda, e.g. the flagship project 2010/2011. Moreover, Dragan pointed out the importance of AEGEE in times of economic crisis to maintain stability.
But I guess you would like to know what happened till now. After all people somehow managed to find their way to our dormitory, we queued up to register. As the CD feared that the antennae don't pay, you first had to register and pay the fee at the AEGEE-Europe desk and only afterwards the participants were allowed to pick up their welcome package and badge at the local organizer's desk. Unfortunately some antennae didn't know that, as it was newly introduced at this Agora, and waited two hours in the wrong line just to queue up again in the line for AEGEE-Europe- luckily lunch was provided just next to desks.
In the afternoon, there was the possibility to attend the language course and a speed course on "Handle your own Agora" so that the newbies learned what to do with all these ballot papers and where to go. In the evening we enjoyed the opening ceremony with traditional dances, speeches of the organizers and some getting-flag-bag actions, which were all successfully done. Afterwards AEGEE-Magusa's birthday cake was distributed among the participants before we started searching for the dinner hall. The Agora takes place at the Near East University, where 20,000 students study and go to school. Approximately, the campus has a size of 2 sqkm with several buildings and streets. So it is not so easy to find your way here. Therefore, some had problems to find the right place to have dinner, although an oranizer was with them. After an odysee of one hour they finally found their way ;-)
Quickly afterwards we had to jump on the buses to go to the first party of this Agora. After one hour of driving we finally arrived at a fancy club exclusively reserved for MagusAgora participants.... Stay tuned to read more about it soon...

Isabell

Only two more days...

Reading the Agora's agenda, it is sure that there is no boring event coming up. While all agenda points will be interesting and worth attending, there are, nevertheless, some agenda points which deserve special attention.

Starting on Wednesday, we can already look forward to the Opening Ceremony, before the real content starts only on Thursday. For all participants who attend their first Agora, the "Speed course: Handle your own Agora" is a must, as everything will be explained which is relevant to understand the Agora.

In the morning of Thursday, another highlight comes up as the CD will present their Activity Report then. Considering a lot of discussions on AEGEE-L, we can assume that a good number of questions will be asked, e.g. about the logo, the Intranet, democracy and transparency.
While Thursday, with more Activity Reports in the afternoon, mainly looks back, the agenda turns to the future on Thursday event, where we see an agenda point which is not included in every Agora - a "Quo vadis AEGEE?" meeting which has already been explained on aegee-l.

Friday will also deal with the future, as the plenary has the chance to see candidates' presentations and to ask the candidates questions.
Some more interesting issues will be discussed during the progress meetings, with topics such as Visual Identity (which includes the logo), Intranet and the next Flagship topic. Especially the logo and the Intranet already caused some debates on our mailing-lists.

With the Convention d'Adhesion, the presentation of Flagship topic proposals and the voting session, Saturday also sees some highlights.

Sunday will be departure day. Nevertheless, there is the chance for Working Groups, Commissions and Project teams to meet.

Let's hope the Agora will be constructive, questions will be answered, and AEGEE can answer the Quo vadis question a bit better.

Only 3 more days...

The people coming to Cyprus are slowly starting to pack their stuff and the members, who cannot make it to the Agora, probably follow closely all discussions on AEGEE's mailing lists going on right now. Surely, the Agora will be full of hot debates, a new CD and hopefully there will be a lot of sun ;-)
To give you a first impression of the location, where the most important event of AEGEE will take place, here is some intersting information. Lefkosia (Nicosia in English) is the capital of the Republic of Cyprus.
The city is located in the middle of the island of Cyprus- so unfortunately the participants cannot enjoy our breaks between the plenaries at the beach. Only those taking part in the post-event will have the pleasure to relax at the sea in Magusa after an exhausting Agora. However, there are some other pleasures waiting for the participants, too. Lefkosia offers a wide range of beautiful architecture. Generally speaking, in the northern part there a couple of impressive mosques. The southern part has some nice cathedrals and old buildings telling us about its 1000 years of history. The ancient city center is Ledra Street and is Lefkosias main shopping street nowadays. It is surrounded by bastions and a city wall. One of the old city gates, the Famagusta gate, is used as today's cultural center.

What will be interesting, especially for the participants, is the weather forecast.
http://www.holiday-weather.com/lefkosia/seven-day-forecast.html
As you can see, there are a lot of question marks in the clouds - hopefully this means, it will be sunny with some clouds during the plenaries - I hope it is not a sign for not giving answers the network is waiting for.

Just 4 more days till Agora Magusa

Dear AEGEE members,
As only a small percentage of the network is present at Agora Magusa, our Blog is ready to keep you updated about the last happenings in Cyprus.
In the following days we will give you a first impression about the island, the programme, etc.
So stay tuned!