German-Greek youth agency
The German-Greek Youth Office (DGJW) ( Greek Ελληνικό-Γερμανικό Γραφείο Νεολαίας Ellino-Germaniko Grafio Neoleas ) is a project of the German Federal Government to model the relations between the German-French Youth Office and the German-Polish Youth Office in Germany and to intensify Greece , to deepen mutual understanding and thereby bring them closer to the culture of the partner country.
background
In the course of the Greek sovereign debt crisis , there was a significant loss of income in the Greek population, which led to protests, for example by trade unions. Already before that, involvement of German corporations in several corruption scandals in connection with acquisitions by the Greek state worth billions had become known. Anti- Greek reports increased in the German media, politicians primarily from the “second row”, speculating about Greece's exit from the euro or even the EU.
On the other hand, the Greek media criticized the German government's crisis management and blamed the Chancellor's strict austerity policy for worsening the crisis. The situation resulted in a strain on German-Greek relations .
While according to a representative survey by the Greek daily To Vima in 2005, the Germans were still the most popular people among the Greeks (78.4% of the respondents said they were positive about the Germans, 77.5% about France, only 27% about the USA, 8%), the number fell to 33.2% when the survey was repeated in 2013. The polls confirm the opinion of commentators that the political anti-Americanism that has long been widespread in Greece is being replaced by "anti-Germanism".
Foundation initiative
As early as March 2013, the general assembly of the Association of German-Greek Societies (VDGG) called for a German-Greek youth agency in Bamberg, in a unanimously approved motion. The initiative to found a German-Greek youth organization came largely from the President of the VDGG, Sigrid Skarpelis-Sperk . Through their initiative, the project was incorporated into the coalition agreement of the federal government of the grand coalition .
Conceptual preparatory work
In addition to promoting systematic youth exchanges and language learning, the initiators believe that vocational skills will be promoted in order to help combat the high level of youth unemployment in Greece.
The Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth is technically responsible on the German side . A major problem with the planned establishment of the new youth organization is the financing: In view of the financial crisis in Greece, half of the financing by the two states, as with the German-French and the German-Polish youth organization, is unrealistic.
A letter of intent was signed on September 12, 2014 at Bellevue Palace in Berlin in the presence of the Greek President Papoulias and the German Federal President Gauck. According to an agreement signed in July 2017, the further work steps were determined and the establishment of the German-Greek Youth Office is planned for 2019.
founding
The agreement on the establishment of the DGJW was concluded during the state visit of Federal President Steinmeier to Greece on October 11, 2018. The Federal Youth Minister Dr. Franziska Giffey and the Greek General Secretary for Youth, Pafsanias Papageorgiou, signed the agreement for the establishment of the German-Greek Youth Organization.
Web links
- https://agorayouth.com/tag/deutsch-griechisches-jugendwerk/
- Kölner Stadtanzeiger from January 1, 2014: "Coalition plans German-Greek youth work"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ioannis N. Grigoriadis in Kathimerini from July 25, 2012: "Anti-Americanism and Antigermanism" (Greek) ( Memento of the original from November 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Nikiforos Malevitis in reporter.gr of April 14, 2013: "Anti-Americanism and Antigermanism" (Greek) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ request of VDGG Board
- ^ In the coalition agreement coalition agreement between CDU, CSU and SPD 18th legislative period ( Memento of December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) p. 156 and 157 it says:… “The development of a European civil society is an essential prerequisite for a lively European democracy. It is particularly important to further develop youth policy for this. European schools, youth organizations and increased youth mobility can contribute to this. In this context, for example, we support the establishment of a German-Greek youth organization. The reform efforts in Greece will continue to be supported in partnership, in particular the German-Greek Assembly will be continued and further developed "...
- ^ Text of the coalition agreement on the Federal Government's website , accessed on September 12, 2014
- ↑ Interview with Sigrid Skarpelis-Sperk ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ report , dw.de, September 12, 2014, accessed on September 12, 2014
- ↑ Article on the website agorayouth.com
- ↑ Germany: German-Greek youth organization aims to improve mutual understanding . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( zeit.de [accessed on October 12, 2018]).
- ^ Athens - Agreement on German-Greek youth work . In: Deutschlandfunk . ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed on October 12, 2018]).
- ^ IJAB eV: Greece. August 28, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018 .
- ^ IJAB eV: Agreement signed to found a German-Greek youth organization. August 28, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018 .
