Rui Bettencourt restates importance of young Azoreans in shaping the future of Europe
The Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations restated in Ponta Delgada the importance of the participation of Azorean youth in building the future of Europe.
Rui Bettencourt spoke after welcoming the students of Santa Maria Basic Education and Secondary School, winners of "The Azores, Europe, the Future" multimedia contest. On the occasion, he stressed that they are "school-aged young people, who are completing secondary education and who are developing projects with their professional life and with their academic and university education. They are young people who build the future."
"It is interesting to see that they include Europe in future prospects as well as in the idea they have for the construction of the future," stressed the government official.
The Secretary for External Relations stated that the Regional Government will maintain the European Citizenship Programme "to continue providing Azorean youth with moments of reflection on matters related to Europe, with special emphasis on this feeling of European belonging and this European identity that also involves the Azores and the Azoreans."
Regarding the winning video, Rui Bettencourt considered that it is "very sensitive" work and "offers a very interesting reflection on the future, especially how young people envision this future and how they envision Europe involved in this future."
The winners will travel this week to Brussels where they will have the opportunity to visit the Representation Office of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Portuguese Permanent Representation to the European Union (REPER) and the European Parliament, among other places in the Belgian capital.
The Regional Secretary also highlighted the fact that one members of the winning team of Santa Maria School and also a member of the European Club of this school, João Raposo, was distinguished today with the journalist prize of the regional phase of the Youth Parliament.
"They are young people with great potential, and they are young people who will surely help building the Azores and Europe in a very near future," said the Secretary for External Relations.
The "Cagarros Europeus" team of Santa Maria Basic Education and Secondary School is composed of students Isabela Quadrado, João Raposo and Pedro Amaral, and teacher Rui Quadrado. It was the regional winner of the "Young People, Europe and the Future," an initiative promoted by the Regional Government under the celebrations of Europe Day 2019 and the "European Citizenship - Europe for Azoreans" programme.