EC1: Filip Janković

I decided to run for membership in the Executive committee as I have became aware that we as a network, now probably more than ever, need to stand in solidarity with one another in order to fight for our freedom and for our future. My country’s example after it was proven that Belgrade city assembly elections were rigged showcases why we, as Eastern Europeans, need to fight for a future in which our voice is heard and our vote duly cast. Sadly, I am not the only one coming from an autocratic country, and as this year half of the global population, including our fellow peers all over the region, will have a chance to vote, we need to make sure that Serbia’s example of how a successful election fraud can be organised, should never be repeated together. My country’s example also highlights what is at stake this year, as the issue of widespread violence, democratic backsliding, the lack of the rule of law and continuous efforts of the ruling elite to destroy our environment, both social and natural, by building lithium mines and destroying the levees that protect over two hundred thousand people, or by working to deny the access for entire groups of people to drinkable water or breathable air, just goes to show why our struggle is more relevant now than ever - because this year, our future is a stake. With all of this in mind, having watched how the ruling elite is prepared to take away our future and spending every day and night fighting that injustice for the past six years, I realised that this is not only mine or Serbia’s fight, but that of the entire region and Europe as a whole.