Transatlantic Youth Dialogue
On self-determination, minority rights & democratic peace
This event brings together young activists and political representatives from stateless nations and minority communities on both sides of the Atlantic to share experiences of self-determination, democratic participation, and minority rights.
Hosted at the European Parliament, it reflects shared commitment to peace promotion, inclusive governance, and youth political empowerment. It also signals a broader conviction: that durable democratic peace is built not only through institutions, but through the active political voice of peoples who have too often been excluded from them.
The timing is deliberate: 2026 is an election year for Quebec, Scotland, Alsace, Cornwall and several other nations within states, making it a uniquely fertile moment for comparative dialogue on how electoral processes can either advance or constrain democratic self-expression.
Transatlantic exchange enriches this conversation: bringing in perspectives from across the Atlantic where questions of minority rights, indigenous sovereignty, and federal autonomy offer both parallels and productive contrasts to European experiences.
Program
Welcome
Vicent Marza: Greens/EFA MEP, Valencian Country.
Marta Bainka: Coppieters Foundation Bureau Member, Silesia.
Julien Faucher: Bureau Member Comité national des jeunes du Parti Québécois, Québec.
Maxence Helfrich: EFA Youth Secretary General, Jeunes Unser Land, Alsace.
Living Self- Determination: Youth Voices from Nations Within States
This first panel grounds the dialogue in lived political experience. Speakers from Quebec, Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall will reflect on what it means to pursue self-determination within a larger democratic state: through elections, referendums, and everyday political engagement. Beyond formal mechanisms, they will speak to the cultural and generational dimensions of their movements: what motivates young people to organise, and how minority and stateless-nation identities shape political participation in practice.
SPEAKERS
Rosalie Berube: Bureau Member Comité national des jeunes du Parti Québécois, Québec.
Maxence Helfrich: EFA Youth Secretary General, Jeunes Unser Land, Alsace.
Marta Bainka: Coppieters Foundation Bureau Member, Silesia.
Jowan Nutte: Coordinator Kernow Rydh, Cornwall.
MODERATOR
Gabriele Violino, EFA Youth Bureau Member, Patto PASG, Friuli.
Referendums as Democratic Tools: Process, Legitimacy and Recognition
The second panel takes a more analytical lens, examining referendums as instruments of democratic governance. By bringing together representatives from contexts where referendums have been held, contested, or denied, the discussion will explore what makes a referendum legitimate, internationally recognised, and politically sustainable. Special attention will be given to the gap between democratic aspiration and legal frameworks, and to what the international community owes peoples seeking to exercise their right to self-determination through the ballot box.
SPEAKERS
Carolanne Boileau: Bureau Member Comité national des jeunes du Parti Québécois, Québec.
Maria Perez i Rosso: EFA Youth Bureau Member, Jovent Republica, Paisos Catalans.
Olaf Stando: EFA Youth Bureau Member, Youngs Scots for Independence, Alba.
Pernando Barrena: Greens/EFA MEP, EH Bildu, Euskal Herria.
MODERATOR
Maxence Helfrich, EFA Youth Secretary General, Jeunes Unser Land, Alsace.
This event is a joint initiative of EFAY and Coppieters Foundation.
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This event is is financially supported by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not liable for the content of the event nor for the opinions of the speakers.
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Background picture from Neeqolah Creative Works