Y: Are you alright?

X: Nice to talk to you, it’s been a while since the last time I heard from you.

Y: I know, I’m sorry I was very busy this month. But these days I read so much about Narva in the newspaper, I never thought Estonia was going to be world news. But because of that I was wondering if you were still alright. Who thought it would turn this way when we were together in the My Europe youth council?

X: Well, a lot has happened since it all started around 2015

Y: You mean when England stepped out of the European Union?

X: Yes, but I still think Cameron made the right decision. England had to pay two billion to the EU.

Y: But that was because Europe used a new technique to calculate the economic growth, and it turned out to be more then they first thought.

X: But two billion…? Unacceptable! Cameron didn’t have a choice. If he would have payed it, most citizens from England, would have become very, very angry. They already wanted England to step out of the EU for a long time, and if Cameron was going to pay two billion to the EU…

Y: That’s true but still, the European Union also needs money to exist.

X: And then France came…

Y: At least they tried to help them to get out of their huge economic crisis, but the EU became weaker because England had left. Also there were a lot of fights and disagreements, which caused a lot of tension.

X: But they didn’t succeed in helping France, they should have discharged France from the EU, what happened wasn’t surprising.

Y: Of course not, the idea of the EU is that countries support each other when they have problems like a crisis or a war.

X: So France could get all the countries into a crisis, because they couldn’t manage their own business….? Because that’s what happened eight years ago.

Y: I do agree that the EU should have helped earlier to prevent it. When France said they could fix their deficit from 3%, the EU should have done something.

X: But because the EU didn’t, and decided to support France, other countries also got into a crisis. And because England already stepped out of the EU, the other countries needed to pay even more money than they already did. Their solidarity became smaller and smaller. Of course they blamed France. And who could blame them? I don’t know if I will still buy croissants.

Y: That is true, but when you work together with so much different people from different countries, who all have different cultures, you have to realize that you are going to lose things if you want to succeed. All the countries knew this, when they decided to join the EU.

X: But isn’t losing your whole country a bit much of an effort?

Y: Haha, but maybe the crisis would have been solved in a few years if Russia didn’t attack Estonia.

X: Yes, last year the Russian army started to slowly take over Estonia, they wanted to make one big Russia, because Estonia was part of the Sovjet Union until 1991, they still felt like they owned it.

First they attacked Narva, the city I live, because it is located on the border of Estonia and Russia.

And now they have also taken over other cities in Estonia. My daily life didn’t really change, but when I go to the supermarket, there are some things priced higher

Y: Wow, quite a lot happened!

X: But then it all became too difficult for the EU so they gave up. The pressure became too high and there were too many disagreements to continue. I never believed in the EU, and now when the pedal hits the metal they quit, so I rest my case.

Y: I understand that you are angry, but because of the European Union you could live and study in Estonia, you could marry your wife, your children are able to go to a European school and you can drink wine from France, thanks to the EU… did you ever think about that?

But anyway, I’m glad to hear that you’re still alive, but I can’t call too long, the costs of calling to another country became much higher after the EU fell apart.

X: Okay, I hope to see you soon, maybe in fifteen years. We then might all live in the same Russian country, and the whole Europe problem is solved, haha!

About the author:

Lara (15) participated in the “My Europe” workshop in the Netherlands in 2014. She´s a student at Barlaeus gymnasium, Amsterdam.