Statements

On 24th October 2019, the European Parliament rejected a motion to step up search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The resolution, which was launched by the Socialist and Democrats Group (S&D) with support from the Greens and the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL), was defeated by only two votes, with the far-right Identity and Democracy Group (ID) and the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) -the largest group in the Parliament- voting it down. Search and rescue activities are sea operations that render assistance to any vessel or person in distress at sea. According to the European [...]

In October 2017 AEGEE-Europe published a statement with regard to the violence and increasing tensions in Catalonia after a referendum on the region’s independence from Spain took place against a Spanish Constitutional Court ruling (you can access it here). On the 14th of October 2019 nine Catalan politicians holding leading roles in the organisation of the referendum were sentenced to between nine to thirteen years of prison by the Spanish Supreme Court. This sparked not only a new wave of protests all around the region, but also a growing and violent escalation of events that is being translated into streets [...]

The World Mental Health Day on 10th of October is an annual occasion to improve the mental health education, awareness and to advocate against the social stigma, so as to create a more compassionate and empathetic society. The World Mental Health Day 2019, as announced by the World Federation for Mental Health, focuses on “Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention”, as a crucial topic for the future of global mental health movement. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the [...]

The World Suicide Prevention Day is an awareness day, taking place every year on the 10th of September, with an aim to reduce the rate of suicides. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide. Suicide can be attempted by everyone, no matter the socioeconomic background, nationality or place of residence, and they are an occurrence in all parts of the world. At the same time, Europe has the highest average rate of suicides. In the age group of 15 to 29, suicide is the second leading cause of death, based on data [...]