Dear All,

As you know, my time in cafebabel.com as Communication officer will come to end end by May 31 - but it is not the end as a babelian.

I have really enjoyed the last two years working with an amazing staff and a dynamic network of local teams. Therefore I can only thank you with deep gratitude for these 2 years, filled with the passion we were sharing for cafebabel.com, and the ideas we exchanged during the General Assemblies and the Babel Ackademy in the past 2 years.

I learned a lot from you and I am very proud of the results of the efforts you put into the project - a magazine that is publishing articles about the key issues for our generation, debates, which make people all over Europe participate in and a community that is growing every day.

I'd like to thank you for making me believe in our strong network - Now we can not only count on over 30 local teams in more than 20 European countries, but also on a much stronger association, willing to deal with the future of cafebabel.com.

But there is also a lot of credit I want to give to our hard working staff in Paris and Warsaw managing the website on a daily basis. A team that is constantly dealing with thousand things in the same time, but being able of keeping it's originality and creativity, no matter what. That is what makes the product cafebabel.com so truly babelian and something you won't find somewhere else.

Thank you Adri for your advise and for your energy, making people around you not only babelized, but also motivating us in the RCE to do our jobs in the best way we can. Thank you Alex for your strength and capacity of dealing with all kinds of problems – from finding a new RCE office in central Paris to making cafebabel.com known and supported by prestigious partners.

Thank you Katha, Pedro, Franci, Nabee, Jane, Fernando and Marysia for your originality and your will to challenge our readers and to question stereotypes, no matter how silly they might be - well, you made with your optimism the daily life in the RCE always very precious to me.

Thank you Julie for helping us managing with daily issues, helping me and the Spaniards, the Germans, Italians and the Polish in the office to understand the French bureaucratic system - Ole you are bringing so much to the community - I am glad to see that as a Austrian I can perfectly well work with a German

I thank our charming Webmaster Cédric for all his energy he put's into solving all technical problems and by designing graphics for our website – I am sure you all had already a technical problem he solved for you Dana and Xavier - I am glad for your efforts making the website competitve for 2010. And let's not forget about Pierre-Anthony, France and all former interns we had, who brought so much to the magazine. Let's also welcome Anna, who just started this week as new Communication intern. She will be the one sending you press releases and promoting your events - so be ready to hear from Anna very soon!

Your passion and conviction for cafebabel.com is what makes this website so special. And I am sure that your time is just about to start, but it will be not easy to keep on track inventing the first European media that is based on a sustainable economic model. But together, you can do it!

And what about me now? Well, I will be working starting from September '09 on a project hand in hand with the french ministry for agriculture on making young agriculture students in France and Europe exchanging on issues about agriculture and professional training, which will be very exciting too.

I will meet a new target group for cafebabel.com, so be sure they will learn also about this magazine but I will of course continue to check on what happens at cafebabel.com - and I hope you will do so too!

Yours,

Monika

Iron curtain, the five newest member states, the Balkans and Turkey in the EU – got something to say about these topics? Win the European commission’s prestigious title for your country and a trip to Berlin this summer, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall!

In 2008, cafebabel.com English editor Nabeelah Shabbir and former e-community editor Jean-Sébastien Lefebvre took home the figurative gongs for the UK and France, their native countries. The ‘Enlarge your vision’ prize was based around the ‘EU enlargement’ theme of the online competition - a tour around the western Balkans and the privilege of meeting the 34 other winners.

This year, cafebabel.com have teamed up with the European commission to ask you directly to send in your articles, and compete for the title in your country.

The prize: the title of ‘European young journalist’ in your country, followed up by a cultural trip all expenses paid in Berlin in September 2009.

When: submit your article by 31 May!

Who : You are between 17 and 35. You are a citizen or resident of the 27 member states of the EU or the 8 candidate and potential candidate countries of the EU.

What: Your article should have been written between 2007 and 2009 on cafebabel.com or any other media (print, online, audiovisual) about one of the following FIVE topics :

• 20 years since the removal of the Iron Curtain: has the integration with the central and eastern European countries changed the face of Europe?
• Five years after: the impact of the accession to the EU of the ten member states that joined in 2004
• The quest for EU membership: why is the European perspective crucial for the western Balkans and Turkey?
• Accession into the EU of new member states: good for the EU or good for the acceding country?
• What does belonging to the EU mean for you/ your country?

The article can be a maximum of 2, 000 words. An abstract of 200 words needs to be provided in English.

There will be ONE winner awarded by each of the 35 countries*

EU-admittanceHow to participate?

1.Send an email to Monika Oelz (info@cafebabel.com) with your name and surname to inform us that you would like to participate

2. Register on the website under this address : http://www.eujournalist-award.eu/index.php?id=115

Looking forward to your emails – and tell your friends!

• Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romana, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK

The Intercivil Society and the ICLS, in partnership with cafebabel.com and others, want to get your talent out.

There is a change in the Atmosphere, and it’s not all about global warming; with the historic election of Barack Obama as President of the United States... a man symbolizing the breaking with the old and ushering in of the new. These winds are blowing now also in Europe and beyond. They are transcending political party lines and crossing generations.

Are there young EurObamas out there? Europe and the world are in need of young voices, fresh faces and fresh young ideas for the big challenges of today: climate change, social conflict, growing new poverty. This is why the AtmosphEUROPA contest for young leadership talent from minorities of any kind is being supported by the President of the European Parliament and leading members of the EP’s main political groups, left and right. The contest is held in conjunction with the European elections of June this year.

If you are under 30 and of a minority background and live in Europe, this talent contest could be for you. We invite you to not just wait for change, but to follow Mahatma Gandhi's advice and “BE the change you want to see in the world”.

If you want to see why to participate and what’s in the contest for you, for Europe or for your minority visit the website: www.atmospheuropa.eu

Europe needs you to shine your light. And you to lead the pack. If you can.

While Europe is celebrating 20 years of the fall of the Berlin wall, Lithuania is still trying to perceive its role in the Baltic sea area. Lost between the special relation with Scandinavia and its old neighbours now seen through the 'New Neighbourhood' initiative it still lacks clear identification.

Babel Lietuva invites you to take part in the discussion about such identification together with the following representatives:

• Rimas Žaromskis - VU Faculty of Natural Science
• Marius Janukonis - URM director of Regional cooperation department
• Martinas Žaltauskas - NGO information center Vilnius

The discussion in Lithuanian will be translated to English and is taking place in La Boheme Cafe - 4/3 Šv. Ignoto street at 18h. on 14 of May 2009