The elections for the European Parliament are right around the corner. This year’s elections promise to be different. For the first time, the citizens of the European Union can directly vote for the President of the EU parliament, while the rise of far right groups could create tensions in the EU. Under these impressions, the coordination meeting for the European Debates took place in Berlin this weekend. Right in the heart of Berlin, at the Allianz Foundation Forum next to the Brandenburg Gate, 23 young Europeans gathered to plan and discuss the series of upcoming debates. The association Bürger Europas e.V. ...

[caption id="attachment_17004" align="alignright" width="324"] Not too friendly to argue with each other: Nordic Debaters (c) Peer Klüsendorf[/caption] We might hear the sound of Edvard Grieg's Morning Mood, as debating in the Scandinavian countries slowly awakes. Despite impressive language skills and communication heavy education systems, they had been noticeably absent from the European debate scene, leading many to think that Scandinavians were simply too friendly to argue with each other. But maybe they just needed a spark from some motivated debate societies. In the first half of 2013, teams from Lund managed to win tournaments in London, Helsinki and Bremen, while Stockholm impeccably hosted ...

The Org Com of Chennai Worlds released informations about the application process for those who would like to participate in Worlds as a adjudicator. This includes Individuals applying to be ‘Independent Adjudicators’ (i.e. an adjudicator unaffiliated with any institution) or Representatives from institutions that have requested one or more adjudicator spots in excess of the ‘N-1’ requirement.  Independent Adjudicators Independent adjudicators are those that wish to judge at Worlds but are not officially part of an institution's WUDC contingent. Independent adjudicators can either be self funded or can apply for a subsidy from Chennai Worlds. Applicants need to fill out the following form and answer several questions. Chennai ...

The Earlsfort Open 2013 will be running in UCD on the 20th and 21st of July 2013. A month out from Manchester Euros, Earlsfort is the perfect opportunity to check your progress while debating topical motions set by an expert CA team. The tournament offers  five rounds, a Semis and a Final. For more informations, the reg-form and the full timetable you can check the Facebook-Group. fpu

For all those planning their debate-holidays Patras (Greece) may be worth a look. The Debating Society of Greece invites all deabters to the first edition of the Patras Open International Debate Championship, taking place in Greece from July 26th to July 29th . Held in Patras, a few hours away from some of the world’s most renowned historical sites, the Patras Open offers top level competition as well as excellent adjudication and workshops by some of the best debaters in the world. Furthermore, the location of the city promises amazing socials and beach parties on the beautiful coast of Peloponnese. Just ...

Since monday Teams and adjudicators can register for the Red Sea Open 2013. In order to register the Teams have to fill in this Spreadsheet and adjudicators can regsiter here. The Team-Cap ist 40 Teams, the institutional Cap is 3 Teams per institution. The Team Cap tends to fill up quickly, so register as soon as possible. The Red Sea Open will start September 8th and end 12th of September. Regfee ist approximatly 90 Euro per Speaker/Judge. For more details you can check the Red Sea Open-Facebook-Page. fpu

Das Team Mainz Anton (Andrea Gau/Daniil Pakhomenko) hat das Finale der ZEIT DEBATTE Aachen 2013 gewonnen. Als Besten Redner der Finales zeichnete die Ehren-Jury um Ulla Schmidt, Marcel Phillips, Prof. Martin Baumann, Florian Krämer und Philip Stiel Hauke Blume aus Berlin aus. In einem spannnenden Finale setzte sich das Team aus der Schließenden Regierung durch. Für die Ehrenjury lobte Prof. Baumann Haukes Redebeitrag, er hätte die Würze und Klarheit gehabt, die eine gute Rede braucht. Damit endet die ZEIT DEBATTE Aachen, den Organisatoren, Teilnehmern, Sponsoren und der Ehrenjury vielen Dank für die schöne ZEIT DEBATTE und das gute Finale. Die ZEIT ...

While most debaters were still recovering form the WUDC-fever, another debating highlight took place in Berlin: on Januray 16th politics and competitive debating clashed. Streitkultur Berlin hosted an event where they debated professional politicians. The motion before the house was:" Should journalisim be publicly funded?" This article is only available in English. Please read more on this in the German version of this article.

Over the weekend I have been up north, where I heared about a famous debater who could only surpass the fromidable beginning of his speech by his closing remarks. This modus vivendi holds true for the ZEIT DEBATTE Hamburg as well - a tournament which raised a lot of expectations, fullfilled them all and even went far beyond what was expected. This review has not been published in English. Please read more on this in the German version of this article.