Young European of the Year

2023 – Mikuláš Lakatoš is the Young European of the Year 2023! Mikuláš, 26, from the Slovak Republic is an activist and public policy maker, advocating for the rights of Roma, LGBTQ+ communities and other marginalised groups. Working in governmental and non-governmental sectors, he focuses on Roma inclusion, and policymaking regarding youth, health, and refugees.

2022 – Anahita Neghabat, 26, from Austria is a social anthropologist and meme making political educator. In her work, Anahita uses memes as a visual vocabulary, medium and tool for political commentary, reaching a broad and young audience of almost 24 thousand people on Instagram – speaking from an intersectional feminist, anti-racist and anti-authoritarian perspective.

2021 – Constantin-Alexandru Manda from Romania is campaigning for fair and equal education for all children in his country. In 2013, at just the age of 14, he founded one of Romania’s first student associations and succeeded in getting the Romanian government to guarantee a minimum scholarship for every child in need.

2020 – Mariya Atanasova, 23, is a mentor for youth from the Roma community and a member of the European Roma Youth Network in Bulgaria. She studies midwifery and is involved in various organizations for young people who are affected by discrimination and social difficulties. As a young Roma woman, she supports children and youth from her community and advocates for more visibility of Roma in Europe.

2019 – Yasmine Ouirhrane is being honored as the 2019 Young European of the Year for her commitment to equal rights for women and equal participation opportunities for migrants in Europe. At 23, she is already a scholarship recipient of Women Deliver's Young Leader program, organized the European Youth Forum's "YO!" festival in Strasbourg in 2018, and has been involved in projects with young people in disadvantaged neighborhoods in France.

2018 – Madeleina Kay is a British activist and one of the loudest voices for European cohesion in her country. Madeleina, also known as #EUSuperGirl, uses art and music to campaign for the UK to remain in the EU, making public appearances and mobilizing thousands of people both on and offline.

2017 – Nozizwe Dube has actively steered policy in Flanders through her chairmanship of the Flemish Youth Council and carried the voice of young people in Flanders into policy decisions. She has been particularly active on minority issues, but has also been involved in other European issues, such as the right to vote at 16 and the impact of Brexit on young people.

2017 – Haris Kušmić is the founder of the National Committee of the European Youth Parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His organization has involved more than 2000 young people from the country in exchange activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in other European countries.

2016 – Adrian Balutel, born in 1992 in Moldova, was the Executive Director of JEF (Young European Federalists) Moldova from 2013 to 2015, at the same time he was the Vice President of the National Youth Advisory Council of Moldova and is currently the Executive Director of the National Platform of the Eastern Civil Society Forum and the Secretary General of the Youth Business Association.

2015 – Eugenia Lopata, born in 1994, was already politically and socially engaged in her hometown Chernivtsi during her school years. She is the youngest cultural manager in Ukraine. One of her biggest cultural projects is the poetry tour Meridian Chernivtsi 2014 Austria-Ukraine-Poland-Germany.

2014 – Luis Alvarado Martinez, born in 1989 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), graduated in Translation and Interpreting for Spanish, English, French and Italian. After having held several positions at the AEGEE Students' Forum, among others as its president, he is the current president of the European Youth Forum.

2013 – Lukas David Meyer, born in Göttingen in 1989, began his studies in Evangelical Theology at the University of Göttingen in April 2010. His social commitment to Europe already began in 2008 with a voluntary service year in the Sarajevo office of the organization Schüler Helfen Leben. He received the "Young European of the Year 2013" award for his commitment to a Social Day throughout Europe.

2012 – Robin May was born in Lutherstadt Wittenberg in 1988. Even as a schoolboy, he was committed to raising the political awareness of his fellow students. Later, he continued his commitment to youth participation in European dimensions.

2011 – Stefan Ivanovic, born in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1988, has been strongly influenced in his childhood by the war and the collapse of society in his home country. Growing up in a dysfunctional society, Stefan early recognized the role of the European Union as a model for a peaceful world order, a political order beyond nationalisms, based on the core values of democracy.

2010 – Maria Tandeck, born in Poland in 1989, became involved in social, political and intercultural issues at a young age. During the years of negotiations and Poland's accession to the European Union, she developed a special interest in European politics, which was also encouraged by her work in the European Youth Parliament Poland. Further commitments followed, such as in the Social Democratic Youth Poland, the Student Council Law of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), as well as in the Polish Youth Council.

2009 – Sandra Orlovic worked as a student volunteer for the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska and Serbia. With her exemplary voluntary work, she helped to increase the awareness of rights and history among the population.

2008 – Tamuna Kekenadze, born in Georgia in 1982, was a founding member and the first president of AEGEE Tbilisi, but also through her involvement in the "National Council of Youth Organizations", the umbrella organization of more than 45 youth organizations in Georgia, she made it easier for both Georgian and other European youth organizations to carry out exchange projects.

2007 – Paul de Kuijer, born in 1984 in the Netherlands, founded a student council while still at school and organized a political forum discussion with an audience of 500 and national politicians. During his law studies, he also worked on the development of a national student Model United Nations, was involved in the "Student Forum for European Affairs" and was extremely active in the Dutch referendum campaign for thorough information for citizens on the European Constitutional Treaty.

2006 – Burcu Becermen, born in Turkey in 1981, took up the challenge of leading the "Turkish-Greek Civil Dialogue" at the age of 19. In the four years that followed, she succeeded in involving hundreds of young people and ten youth NGOs in the realization of her idea, promoting dialogue and expanding cooperation. After graduating in Ankara, she worked as a freelance interpreter in Istanbul and ran new initiatives with young people with the aim of expanding the idea of European integration and understanding.

2005 – Tamás Boros, born in Hungary in 1981, showed great interest in European integration while still at school and came first in the Robert Schuman National School Competition on the EU. Tamás Boros was honored for his services to European understanding. He initiated EU information and educational events, especially in smaller Hungarian villages and towns, to free citizens from their worries and fears about the EU.

2004 – Anar Q. Jahangirli grew up in Baku, Azerbaijan. He was honored for his achievements in promoting understanding between young people from Azerbaijan and Europe. In 1997, together with a group of like-minded people at the University of Baku, he initiated the foundation of a network "Association of Young Azerbaijani Friends of Europe" (AYAFE), the aim of which is to actively contribute to the progressive integration of the European continent and to promote understanding and cooperation between young people.

2003 – Adrian Langan, born in Ireland in 1977, was honoured for his commitment to the privately organized "Irish Alliance for Europe" in 2002, in which he campaigned for the ratification of the Treaty of Nice. He was actively involved in this before the second referendum in Ireland in 2002. He prioritized this charitable action over his own professional commitments to the Irish Chamber of Commerce. He subsequently contributed his knowledge and experience to civil society campaigns in preparation for referendums in Hungary and Poland.

2002 – Mjellma Mehmeti, born in 1976 in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, was selected for her commitment to the interests of young people - especially young women. She was active for ARK Anti Radna Kampanja, an initiative against war and for peace throughout the Balkans. Shortly afterwards, she founded the Society for the Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women in Macedonia and initiated a program against domestic violence. She was also a co-founder of the Women Waging Peace initiative and the ACC Association for Community Colleges.

2001 – Daciana Oana Mailatescu, born 1975 in Romania, enabled many Eastern European students to participate in exchange programs. She was elected Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe in May 1999 and President of the AEGEE network in May 2000. She interrupted her studies to manage the activities, but had to return to Romania after 18 months as her residence permit was not renewed.

2000 – Tobias Bütow, born in Magdeburg in 1978, received the award for his services to combating anti-Semitism and racism in Europe. His commitment began with his voluntary service with Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste in Israel. He also campaigned for the erection of a memorial to a long-forgotten sub-concentration camp in Magdeburg and wrote a historical book about the use of concentration camp prisoners in the German arms industry. Tobias Bütow is currently a member of the board of the Schwarzkopf Foundation.

1999 – Lola Stoppleman de Almudévar was born in 1978, the daughter of a Jewish British mother and a Catholic Spanish father. She combined her interest in European history and politics with a wide range of activities in the socio-cultural field, especially in international voluntary service, and her commitment to B'nai B'rith, an international Jewish youth organization. The prize was awarded to her primarily for her journalistic commitment in Great Britain, which she demonstrated through numerous publications in major newspapers and student publications. On November 25, 2007, Lola Almudévar died in a traffic accident in Bolivia, where she was traveling as a journalist to report on political unrest.

1998 – Michael Schmitt, born in 1976 in Cochem/Mosel, worked as a volunteer for the "Schüler Helfen Leben" initiative from 1994 onwards and coordinated the Rhineland-Palatinate Refugee Council as part of his civilian service. As early as the summer of 1996, he worked as a voluntary social worker for "Pax Christi" in a refugee camp in Zenica, central Bosnia. In August 1997, he began voluntary service for "Schüler Helfen Leben" in Sarajevo.

1997 - David Stulik, born in Prague in 1972, went to school in Russia and received his master's degree in Warsaw in 1997, specializing in European integration with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe. He speaks six languages and has worked in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Poland, Germany, Russia, Hungary and Belgium since 1993. While working for the European Student Association AEGEE, he was an intern at PHARE in Tokyo, London, Unilever and Camp America.