Sheffield youngsters in European Parliament meet Diana

3.37.00pm GMT Wed 11th Nov 2009

Two Sheffield students were amongst a group of young people from around the European Union who were born in November 1989 and who were in the European Parliament in Brussels today to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the start of the process of democratic change in central and in central and eastern Europe.

20-year olds, Nathalie Ann Sheldon and David Saxton, born in November 1989 and both students at the University of Sheffield, were amongst a total of 89 young people who have grown up in a Europe without the Iron Curtain. They participated in a debate "What Europe means to me" with, amongst others, the European Parliament's President Jerzy Buzek and Sheffield's Liberal Democrat MEP, Diana Wallis.

Diana Wallis, a Vice President of the European Parliament, said:

'It was great to hear this generation's expectations of Europe. They do not taking for granted the peace and freedoms we have obtained over the last years but wanting to move on to a European Union where they would feel that their views on dealing with climate change, protecting the environment, providing job security and perhaps even re-thinking the nature of our economy would be encompassed; they want to be involved. It was good to have them with us if only for a day. I am sure it is an experience we will all remember.'

Other events marking the fall of the Berlin Wall include the "1989 - 2009: Europe, whole and free" photo exhibition and a speech to plenary by former Czech dissident and president Václav Havel.

(Pic show from l-r David Saxton, Diana Wallis MEP, Natalie Ann Sheldon)