INTERVIEW WITH Mr. EMMANOUIL BATISTAKIS

Ø      Currently you have been elected as Secretary General of the Bucharest United Nations Model 2013. To my knowledge, the first Greek student ever to reach such an achievement in an MUN conference abroad. According to you, which side of your personality (e.g. abilities, experience, character, etc.) count the most for the BISMUN Association to distinguish your candidacy and what are your future plans?

Well, just to make it clear I am not the first Greek student to achieve the honor to be the Secretary General to a non-Greek MUN. In BISMUN 2010, it was Konstantinos Spiliakos who was the Secretary General of the conference, who I can say is my MUN mentor and a person that I do admire for his abilities, and also I think that Nikos Manaras a former student of the University of Macedonia has also taken a similar position to an abroad model. Certainly though, I feel really flattered because I was chosen to play that position in two models, in BISMUN 2013 and in SofiMUN 2013. I cannot really say what made the Board of Directors of the UN Youth Association of Romania (the main organizer of BISMUN) to choose me instead of the other candidates. The fact that I have participated in all the past BISMUN conferences played a significant role to their decision because that has given them the chance to see my abilities and the chance to test my character through various situations. In MUNs what is more important is always giving 100 per cent of your power and having fun. When those two conditions happen you feel really good with yourself and you have to be sure that at some point all your hard work is going to be recognized.

As far concerning my future plans, at the moment my main goal is to get my bachelor degree in International Relations and of course to do my best to be a successful Secretary General in BISMUN and in SofiMUN. I prefer to set short-term goals and plan my life step by step.

Ø      Every year more than 400 MUN conferences take place all over the world. What you have gained from your participation in such conferences so far and what piece of advice would you give to a fresher?

The 400 models that you refer to is a small number, if we count also high-school models this number can get up to more than 800 models around the world. As I have said earlier the most important thing is to give 100% of yourself and enjoying the time you spend in the conferences. MUNs are great opportunity to have a first-hand experience on how diplomacy is practiced. Furthermore, they offer the chance to travel all around the world, to see new places and to make new friends. Personally, I have made some really good friends, both Greeks and foreigners, from MUNs. It is really important to take MUNs seriously because how the delegates, the Chairs and Secretariat act during the model is a hint on how they are going to act in their working environment in the future. Team spirit, leadership abilities and in general aspects of ourselves that have to do with us cooperating with people that do come from different cultures and have a different way of thinking are being shown during the conference. But of course there is also time to relax, to have a drink and why not, a love story may always occur… (hahaha)

Ø      Taking into account the difficulties arising from the financial crisis in Europe, which are your ambitions for BISMUN 2013 and what is the element that you plan to add, so as to make this 5^th edition of the Conference special?

The financial crisis is for sure an obstacle in organizing MUNs in Europe. And in terms of organizing a model  but also and in terms of attracting students in participating to the model, you see people have to participate in less MUNs than they used to so they are being far more careful on which MUN to choose and what these MUN will provide them. UNYA of Romania is a well organized association with a great fund raising team that has overcome many obstacles and difficulties in the past and I do have faith to them also this year. And the man behind the association, its president Vahe Hovakimyan, has a great experience in organizing models and I am sure he is going to have terrific work done also this year. It’s early to discuss financial policy at the time, though I think that maintaining and ameliorating the high level of accommodation we offer during the conference and having some special prizes for group delegations it is something that will help the participants.

Also, it is crucial to maintain the high academic level of the conference, that is crucial, it doesn’t mean necessary to spent lot of money but it does take some hard work, from our side, in order to happen, and the way I see it is what attracts most of the participants. At this point as student of the University of Macedonia and member of the ThessIS MUN Association I would like also to thank Pr. Paroula Naskou- Perraki and the ThessIS MUN Association for the scholarships they provide to the students of my department in order to participate in models around the world. They have always been in our side in anything we might have needed and I think that their support is the key factor for the well-recognized success that students of the University of Macedonia are having in every conference they participate.

Ø      In terms of security and stability, the current geopolitical scene in the South-Eastern Mediterranean area looks rather critical. In particular, Israel plans to invade Iran and the US hardly holds Turkey back not to attack Syria. As a graduate of International and European studies, what are the chances of a broad military conflict in the region and which initiatives have to be taken by the UN to deter such a scenario?

Well, that is not a subject that can be concluded in a few words. And it certainly is a good topic for MUN… the UN are the proof that mankind can cooperate and nations with different interests can reach a common agreement. At the moment due to the fact that measures must be taken from the Security Council and the fact that the Permanent 5 countries have shown that they are unwilling to reach to a decision, I think that we won’t  have any measures taken on international level in the near future. However what I see is that while world is facing one of the worst financial crisis ever, ”powerful” countries won’t like to have an escalating situation going on in Middle-East, especially if that includes Iran, which is a potential nuclear power. In my opinion diplomacy on a bilateral level will have more success at this point.

Ø      Last but not least, what is your message to the friends of BISMUN and the MUNers all over the world?

Well guys, have faith in your abilities, always remember that no one is better than you are and of course have fun!! I can’t wait to see and meet each and every one of you!!!

Stand firm in the faith; be men of courage / Στήκετε ἐν τῇ πίστει, ἀνδρίζεσθε

 (1 Corinthians 16:13, Paul the Apostle)

Mr. EMMANOUIL BATISTAKIS: SHORT BIO

Mr. Manolis Batistakis is 22 years old and he comes from Athens. At the moment he is a senior student in the department of International and European Studies in the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki.

His MUN resume counts more than 20 conferences all around Europe, both as a delegate and as chairperson. Most noticeable is his participation in all four editions of Bucharest International Student MUN, his participation in Rhodes Model of Regional Cooperation as Deputy Secretary General in 2011, position that he is having and in this year edition also. Mr. Batistakis is also one of the founding members of the Greek Association of Political and Economical Science Students, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the ThessIS MUN Association from April 2011 until the April of 2012. 

He is the first ever Greek student that has been chosen to have the position of the Secretary General in two MUNs abroad, BISMUN 2013 and SofiMUN 2013.

BY PANAGIOTIS I. PSYLLOS

GLOBAL-CHESSBOARD