Vox Populi: Diana Ondza from Riga, Latvia

1. What are your expectations/hopes from these elections?

I am hoping that the new Parliament will be determined to transform the European Union in a sense to make it more united and cooperative, thus stronger, to be able to tackle the political and economic challenges it faces. Getting back to the core values of the EU and working for them is of an utmost importance for the EU to remain a strong global player. At the same time, the EU needs to quickly identify the latest trends and accordingly respond to dynamism of the modern world,  to ever-increasing globalization challenges and opportunities. Hence, such topics as technological change, digitisation, artificial intelligence would need to have a certain priority on the agenda of the next European Parliament. Only this way, the EU will reach prosperity and growth. Also, I hope we will be able to avoid populist voices in the Parliament as much as possible.

2. Do you/people in your member state still have faith in the EU to deliver?

I believe that people have very different perspectives on the importance of the EU. Some part of the society thinks that the EU doesn’t affect their daily life and they don’t see where the EU is involved – these people have no expectations regarding the EU and actually they don’t care. On the other extreme, there are people who still believe and have faith in the EU. As for me, I know that the EU has its shortcomings, it is a huge and cumbersome system, however from my experience and my perspective, I know that the EU is better for us.

3. Will you be voting? If so, who for (if you are willing to say)?

Yes, sure, I will. I have an idea who I would be voting for, however the lists of party candidates are not completed yet.

4. Tell us some very brief persona/biographical details about yourself?

29-year-old Latvian, I have obtained MA degree from the Univerity of York in Politics and Economics (2013). Since 2014 working as a macroeconomic analyst. Between 2010-2014 I have been actively involved in the NGO European Students‘ Forum (AEGEE) where I learned about and followed European politics and gained extensive European experience.