The eighth ThessiSMUN was held at the University of Macedonia in Thessalonika, Greece in April. Seven students from the University of Twente attended this event, where they were given the unique opportunity to explore the historical city of Thessalonika with local students after long days of debate.
For international student Irmasari Hafidz, attending a MUN for the first time was a fun experience. Curiosity and a willingness to grasp opportunities gave her the confidence to apply to TUNA for a chance to join the delegation to the MilMUN. Assigned to the Council of the European Union, she was to represent Italy. Initially, this was a concern to her, representing the host country at the Bocconi University in Milan, but once there, her concern evaporated in the excitement of the conference.
She says, `Our first topic was on European energy policy, and we debated the use of nuclear energy. Italy has several new nuclear power plants, and I found I wanted to say things that were from me and not representing Italy. We also had guest lecturers who gave talks on renewable resources, and we discussed the energy coming from the Ukraine.'
The second topic was on migration, a major problem facing Italy with a thousand boats landing on Malta's shores every year. `The migrants get sent on to Italy,' says Hafidz, `making diplomacy between the two countries so important. We also discussed a visa scheme, a blue card for immigrants. Then there is the cost to Italy of deporting people, millions of euros. We went on to write resolutions on each of the topics we covered. Finally we voted, and then you see a lot of compromising.'
Hafidz raved about the Italian culture, food and accommodation. She says, `It was a great learning experience, debating in public, and discovering what goes on at the UN. If it wasn't so hard to schedule in with my masters I would do it again.'
Two more conferences are planned for 2009, the ZagiMUN in Zagreb, Croatia, and the BIMUN in Bonn, Germany. Details are available on the TUNA website: www.tuna2009.wordpress.com.
