Rumen Marinov and Paula Djaković, winners of the Berlin Open 2023 – © Sven Bake

Am 09.09. und 10.09.2023 fand in Berlin das englischsprachige Berlin Open 2023 statt, welches neben internationalen Teams etwa aus Bulgarien, Frankreich und den Niederlanden auch von vielen deutschen Teams besucht wurde. Im Finale, das in den Räumlichkeiten der Hertie School of Governance stattfand, konnte sich das Team Bate Milko je Bugarskom Nikola Tesla (Paula Djaković, Rumen Marinov – Zagreb/Sofia) aus der eröffnenden Regierung gegen Münster A(asee) (Max Rottgardt, Henry Keller – Münster) in der eröffnenden Opposition, Big Dick Short Cox (Anna Cox, Dick van Tongeren – Rotterdam) in der schließenden Regierung und DRDB (Anne Wessig, Jan-Gunther Gosselke – Hannover/Nürnberg) in der schließenden Opposition in einem 3:2 Split durchsetzen. Das Thema der Debatte lautete „THBT that the use of identity politics as a central campaign tenant by left wing parties in liberal democracies does more harm than good“; juriert wurde sie von Katharina Margareta Jansen im Chair mit Atyia Al-Hammud, Marc-Andre Schulz, Paula Breyer und Pjotr Koster.

Die Chefjury des Turniers waren Lucie Slamova, Matt Caito und Nikolay Angelov; als Tab fungierten Julius Klikar und Bashkar Agarwal.

Als Jurierende breakten neben dem Final Panel und der Chefjury noch Jola Schmidt und Braedon Lehman.

Für die Turnierorganisation waren bei der Berlin Debating Union Agata Konopka, Felix Reischl und Lisa Knodt verantwortlich. Das Turnier bestand aus 4 Vorrunden am Samstag sowie sowie einer weiteren Vorrunde, Halbfinale und Finale am Sonntag.

Den Halbfinal-Break erreichten die folgenden Teams:
1. Bate Milko je Bugarskom Nikola Tesla (Paula Djaković, Rumen Marinov) – 15 Pkt. / 809 Speaks
2. DRDB (Anne Wessig, Jan-Gunther Gosselke) – 12 Pkt. / 783 Speaks
3. Big Dick Short Cox (Anna Cox, Dick van Tongeren) – 11 Pkt. / 788 Speaks
4. I’m your Gaymmy Bear (Amelia Potocka, Alicia Wang) – 10 Pkt. / 768 Speaks
5. Wirecard Compliance Interns (Adrian Hayler, Florens Rilling) – 10 Pkt. / 759 Speaks
6. Winning? – Barely; Vibing? – Very (Victor Bervoets, Susanna Wirthgen) – 9 Pkt.  /  766 Speaks
7. DCAC Bahkauv (Jonathan Krapp, Josef Hoppe) –  9 Pkt. / 757 Speaks
8. Münster A(asee) (Max Rottgardt, Henry Keller) – 9 Pkt. / 755 Speaks

Die Top 10 Redner*innen des Turniers:
1. Paula Djaković (81.00)
2. Rumen Marinov (80.80)
3. Anna Cox (79.20)
4. Jan-Gunther Gosselke (78.60)
5. Dick van Tongeren (78.40)
6. Anne Wessig (78.00)
7. Amelia Potocka (77.40)
8. Victor Bervoets (77.00)
9=. Bjarne Roggenbuck (76.40)
9=. Tom Kuson (76.40)

Die Themen des Turniers:

R1:THW teach children to have a logical approach to life, even at the expense of reducing their emotional bandwidth (e.g. trying to react in less emotional ways, prioritising logic over emotions when approaching problem-solving, etc.)
R2: Infoslide: During the communist regimes in most countries in Eastern Europe there was active persecution of religion and acceptance of atheism. After the fall of the regimes, processes of restoration of religious practices were set in motion. Many politicians and leaders began to identify themselves as Christians in order to show that they were not affiliated with the former Communist Party. The role of the church in state and public life was became greater. Many countries are introducing religious classes in school and the study of theology in state universities.

THR the promotion of religion in former communist countries in Eastern Europe.

R3: Infoslide: Since 2012, YouTube has adopted a policy of de-monetisation for certain types of content that was deemed by their algorithms to be ‚advertiser-unfriendly‘. That means that creators don’t receive any revenue from people watching those videos. These content categories include but are not limited to „inappropriate language“ and „controversial or sensitive subjects and events“.
THR YouTube’s policy to not monetise ‚advertiser-unfriendly‘ content.

R4: THBT the European Central Bank should not continue to increase interest rates.

R5: THP a world where the dominant narrative is that one should maximise productivity to one where the dominant narrative is that one should maximise leisure.

Halbfinale: Infoslide: Currently the European Union’s Strategy for Enlargment in the Western Balkans requires that Serbia recognise Kosovo’s independance in order for Serbia to become a member state of the European Union. Under this condition Serbia can’t become a member state even if it meets all other requirements.
TH, as the EU, would remove the requirement that Serbia recognises Kosovo.

Finale: THBT that the use of identity politics as a central campaign tenant by left wing parties in liberal democracies does more harm than good.

 sb.