Turku is said to be Finland’s most European city. Is that really true? Seventy-six years ago, the Schuman Declaration truly set European integration in motion. As a result, Europe Day is celebrated every year on 9 May in Turku too. JEF Turku, the Schuman Society and Eurooppalainen Varsinais-Suomi organise a market square event each year. In addition, other organisations and actors hold Europe-themed events during the same week. So what is the City of Turku’s role in celebrating Europe Day?
It cannot be that the City of Turku’s role in celebrating Europe Day is limited to simply raising EU
flags on flagpoles. When asked, the City of Turku has stated that organising Europe Day has been deliberately left to civil society organisations. However, upholding European values and celebrating Europe Day cannot remain the responsibility of young people and pro-European organisations alone, since it is a task for all of us. The city should be actively involved alongside civil society organisations in organising Europe Day.
That said, we are very pleased with the city’s contribution to the Europe Forum held every autumn, and we value the city’s international activities and cooperation. We do hope, however, that the city would better support civil society organisations, which already have limited resources, in organising the Europe Day event. The Europe Day market square event brings residents together with a low threshold to participate and increases awareness of Europe and the EU. A more visible event in a central location would also bring more visibility to the City of Turku itself.
The low voter turnout of Finns, especially young people, in EU elections is concerning. JEF Turku, the Schuman Society and Eurooppalainen Varsinais-Suomi aim, through their own event, to lower the threshold for taking an interest in European affairs. Understanding Europe and EU matters is especially important at a time when the world is becoming ever more divided and fragmented. We want to show that a united and democratic European ideal stands firm against the far right, populism and religious extremism.
The city clearly has an appetite for growing Turku’s European side, but we are looking for concrete action when it comes to celebrating Europe Day. We hope the City of Turku will take a more determined approach to organising Europe Day in the future.
More information:
Ada Jaakkola
President of JEF Turku