Members

My name is Irene Dominioni, I am a journalist based in Italy, though proudly endowed with a very international spirit. For work, I cover a wide range of topics, from labour to social issues, the environment, innovation and European matters, while always aiming to maintain an international outlook. Recently, I’ve had a chance to do this practically thanks to European Alternatives and its Transeuropa Caravans: alongside 20 other activists, we traveled through 15 European countries to meet with organizations and groups fighting for democracy and advocating for a Europe without borders, connecting their stories, making them known to an international audience.

My route covered Germany, Austria and Hungary with a focus on civic spaces and the countering of the far right. It was an eye-opening experience as it made me realize how all around Europe we are facing the same threats and, therefore, the solutions to these problems also need to be common. European Alternatives’ scope is to unite the struggles happening around the continent and foster a truly European community: needless to say, I found myself naturally adhering to this mission.

In this sense, for me taking part in the Transeuropa Caravans project was a wake-up call to how I had a duty to not only commit to the values of solidarity and democracy, but to actively defend them. I strongly believe that everyone can; no matter what they do for a living. As a journalist, I can influence my readers through my articles, delivering a transnational view of events and recounting best practices around different countries to inspire people.

But everyone who believes in the value of a European democracy can and should contribute to it, either by volunteering in their local communities for a cause they believe in, or becoming an activist to scale their impact on a transnational level by connecting with similar initiatives. Guess what? European Alternatives is the best platform to do this.

Thanks to EA, I am now much more aware of this and I have committed to help spread the word: it is not a time for us to stand still anymore, we need to act, and to do it quickly. This is the reason why I support European Alternatives and I am calling you to do the same: with even as little as 5 euros you can become a member and start making a difference. Because the future is in our hands, and while dreaming of a different one, we can already start building it.

My name is Petar Markovic and I live in Brussels where I promote European citizenship with the ECIT Foundation and teach EU Politics at Vesalius College. Born in a country that is no more – in socialist Yugoslavia – and growing up to its demise in the 1990s, I experienced first hand the erection of national borders and the forces they foster: nationalist politics and narrow-minded culture. At the same time, the EU witnessed a deepening of integration and the invention of European citizenship, with the goal of extending the fundamental rights Europeans could enjoy.

In 2014, I attended the Campus of European Alternatives in the outskirts of Berlin and I was struck by how innovative their philosophy of democracy beyond the nation-state was and how creative their growing group of diverse members were. Most understood that the issues we are faced with are crossing borders and, therefore, the solutions to them must cross borders too. European Alternatives has been a source of exciting cultural experiences and friendships ever since, from Warsaw, where I acquired useful campaigning skills through the ACT4FreeMovement training, to Palermo for the Transeuropa Festival.

In 2019, I started to collaborate with European Alternatives on the Transeuropa Caravans, which confirmed my impression that the formula of teaming up with civil societies across borders works! We encountered many groups across Europe. Their actions were local while at the same time they had a clear understanding of the interconnectedness of their struggles. From the “Grandmas against the far right” in Vienna, opposing violence and discrimination, to the 1500 inhabitants of the village of Saillans in France actively shaping and implementing every decision they make: all of them advocated for our right as inhabitants of Europe to shape the decisions that affect us.

Fighting for a better Europe already has a platform and you do not have to do it alone! Going against the tide of nation-centered politics is not easy: European Alternatives can help to surf those nasty waves and pave the way for a mature transnational democracy!

My name is Rasha Shaaban. I am a local from Alexandria and Gothenburg where I am currently based. My first contact with European Alternatives was in 2013 when I took part in their youth activism project “Stop Youth Precarity, Act Democratically”. At that time, my activism was very Egypt-centric. I was only concerned about what was going on with the Revolution in Egypt. I was lacking the international perspective that I gained from my participation in many European Alternatives activism projects.

I fell in love with their motto Democracy, Culture and Equality beyond the nation state. Being part of the European Alternatives’ family taught me a lot about the dark side of nationalism and how it causes big damage to your nation more than any external threat.

In 2016, European Alternatives gave me the opportunity as an Arab, Muslim migrant to become a board member of a transnational organization in Europe. A dream that came true thanks to European Alternatives’ support and openness to minorities. Throughout the years, European Alternatives has always been receptive to my proposals for collaboration. I started as a participant in one of their exchanges.

And, today we have implemented together WoMidan project, aiming at empowering cultural actors for women* rights, wrote together the WoMidan Declaration, carried out inclusion projects in Sweden and Europe, and recently hosted a regional forum on art activism for gender equality and queer rights in the Baltic Sea region, Ukraine and Georgia. And, the journey continues!