"The more people you meet, the more you will enrich yourself"

Making friends with people from across Europe was a new experience for Maltese traveller Ryan Sammut. However, his DiscoverEU journey taught him that not only is communication between people important, but communication between nations too.

“The concept of being European nowadays encompasses meeting other Europeans, diversifying your cultural knowledge and seeing different ways of life around the continent,” said Ryan, who travelled through the UK, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Czechia. “I think that’s the most striking thing – the idea of communication between European cultures.” 

A key stop on Ryan’s journey was Brussels, Belgium, where he learnt about the importance of his own country’s cooperation with other European Member States. “I visited the House of European History and saw the original letter from Malta to the European Coal and Steel Community asking to join the partnership. Seeing the Maltese flag along with the other nations – it was incredible to see the different pieces of Europe altogether under one roof.”

This feeling of European solidarity was confirmed during a visit to Auschwitz in Poland. “It really reminded me of why it’s so important to defend the communication aspect of the European Union,” he said. “It was a reminder of how things used to be and how we don’t want to return to that.”
 

Updated on Þriðjudagur, 26/07/2022