Washington Post (VA edition)_In Global World, European Union Gets Closer (May 29)

29.05.2008

By Theresa Vargas, Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 29, 2008;  VA post edition, Page 25 - 5/29. 

Diplomats From 26 Countries Bring Awareness to Students

H-B Woodlawn senior Joe Huennekens's T-shirt explained it all -- why the teenager would choose to spend his free class period in the auditorium, listening to a Swedish diplomat explain the significance of the European Union.

"What footprint will you leave?" his black shirt says on the front. On the back, it refers to the genocide in Darfur.

Huennekens said he didn't wear the shirt on purpose May 9, Europe Day, when diplomats from 26 countries spoke at high schools across the Washington region. He wore it, he said, simply because members of his generation are more aware of the world outside the Unites States and the role it will play in their lives.

"I think the future really is globalization," said Huennekens, 18. "The borders are getting so much less rigid."

Europe Day is the annual celebration of the E.U.'s conception. For four years, diplomats from member countries have commemorated it by speaking at high schools in Maryland, Virginia and the District. This year was the largest effort yet, with 26 of 27 member countries participating at 32 public and private schools.

Speakers included ambassadors from Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

John Bruton, the European Union's ambassador to the United States, said the increased participation gives him hope that one day the effort can be extended nationwide.

"It is important that the rising generation of Americans understands not only the importance of the European Union but the extent to which it is not just a European achievement but also an American one," Bruton said.

He said that each time he stands before a class, he strives to explain the E.U. by comparing it to what the students already know: the U.S. government. The United States is the "cradle of democracy," he said, but although individual states cannot choose to remove themselves from the nation's governance, members of the European Union can.

"The European Union is taking the American experiment to the next stage, and I think it's important that American students understand this," he said.

"The European Union is probably the most ambitious example of constructive political cooperation that has occurred in the 20th century," said Bruton, who was prime minister of Ireland in the mid-1990s. "It is unique. It is the only multinational democracy in the world."

Bruton said he thinks it is especially important to bring the subject to high school students because they will soon be making policy.

"They are the people who will be providing the leadership for the United States in 50 years," he said. "It's a very good investment of our time."

About 100 students spread across the wooden chairs of the auditorium in Arlington's H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program that afternoon. In front of them stood Caroline Vicini, deputy chief of mission for the Swedish Embassy. Vicini has worked for the foreign service for more than 20 years.

"The purpose of this is to give a human face to the European Union," she said before addressing the room of students in grades nine to 12.

"Have any of you been to Europe?" she asked.

About a dozen hands shot up.

Vicini then explained the history of the E.U. and its future. In 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman called for the creation of an organized Europe. Since then, it has grown to include 27 countries.

"There is a metaphor we use," Vicini told the students. "The European Union is like a bicycle -- if you stop moving it forward, you fall down."

Growth, however, has brought challenges, she said. Because many cultures and languages come together, agreement is sometimes elusive. She noted that although some countries embraced the euro as the monetary unit, Sweden, which joined the E.U. in 1995, did not. Also, some countries have joined that would have been unthinkable at one time, she said, pointing to Eastern Europe.

"It's like if Cuba would be transformed and joined the U.S.," Vicini said. "It's kind of a mind-boggling idea."

After her presentation, Vicini left time for questions. The students did not lack for any. Why hadn't Norway joined? What was the E.U. position of the Olympics in China? What was its position on Kosovo?

Norway probably decided it was better off on its own, Vicini said. It's important to keep pressure on China on human rights, but there would likely be no protest at the E.U. level, she said. Kosovo, she said, is "sort of this little problem baby the E.U. now has in its arms."

Huennekens raised his hand toward the end.

"I have a question about the future," he said, explaining that there has been much controversy about whether Turkey will join the E.U. "Do you think in the next 50 years, the European Union will expand to areas you typically don't think of as Europe?"

The Swedish government is in support of the E.U.'s growing and would like Turkey to join, Vicini said. Turkey's participation would not only ensure it is a democratic nation but is essential because of the importance of the Islamic community in the world, she said.

"We have to find a way to coexist, and Turkey could be a very good example as to how you coexist with an Islamic country," she said.

Most of the students had gone to the presentation with their classes. But a few, including Huennekens, chose to attend during a free period after hearing about the program during morning announcements.

Among them was Rebekah Renner, 17, who sat in the front row. She had gone with a class but stayed into the next period, even though she was supposed to be working on a poster.

"I've never met a diplomat from Sweden before, and that's kind of cool," she said. "The European Union is probably alien for most of us in the audience."

It was one of those events unique to living in the Washington area, where the clustering of the international community and politics provides endless fodder for real-life lesson plans. Renner said she is not sure what career she wants to pursue but knows that a global awareness will help her.

"Just to have a basic standing in the world, you need to understand different ideas and other governments," she said. "The whole world's general status is what's affecting ours."

She was amazed by the many different languages and cultures within the E.U.

Miriam Thomas, 18, who wants to be an investigative journalist for human rights, said she was struck by Vicini's suggestion that the students study overseas at some point.

"I think it just makes you so much more open-minded," Thomas said. "I have friends in England, and they seem so much more aware of what's going on in the world."

U.S. government teacher Casey Robinson said it always helps to have a "real-life practitioner" come in and make a lesson tangible in a way a textbook cannot.

"They've heard of Europe. They know of Sweden. But they haven't thought of Sweden's relationship with Russia being different than with France's," Robinson said.

"We talk a lot about being a good, informed citizen," she said, "and I think this is about being a good global citizen."