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Dec 16, 2020

EUVP visit story - Askia Suruma

Photo of Askia SurumaIn October 2020, the EUVP had the honour of cooperating with the European Parliament Liaison Office in Washington to organise the virtual visit of two groups of senior staff from the U.S. Congress.

The aim of these visits was to further strengthen parliamentary cooperation between the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament on issues of common interests such as economic growth, environmental protection and political shifts by expanding a transatlantic network of legislators and legislative staffers.

Today, we cast the spotlight on one of the participants, Mr. Askia Suruma, who is kindly sharing with us his thoughts about the experience and what the visit means for his ongoing parliamentary work.

Askia is a US Congress official working for Congressman Marc Veasey, who is a Member of the US Helsinki Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. This Commission works with the European Parliament to foster economic cooperation, human rights and military security across the European continent.

In this light, it was essential for Askia to be part of this visit, noting that “the main benefits for me was the chance to meet with Members and staff of the European Parliament to introduce myself and my boss, and talk about our shared goals and priorities for working together”. Askia and his US Congress colleagues had the opportunity to engage in a range of political conversations with Mr. Antonio López-Istúriz White, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the European People’s Party, Ms. Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, MEP from the Party of European Socialists and Mr. Reinhard Bütikofer, MEP from the European Green Party.

They also virtually met high profile interlocutors from the European Parliament administration; including a member of the President’s Cabinet, the Secretary-General of the European Parliament and the Director for Economic and Scientific Policies in the Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the European Parliament.

According to Askia, the visit contributed to the long-term objective of “harmonizing our approach to major issues like a Covid vaccine and climate change so that both the United States and European Union are working in concert to meet these major global challenges”.

Askia agreed that the visit offered a solid learning experience: “Legislatures around the world are facing the twin challenges of both meeting the unprecedented needs of their citizens during the pandemic, while also having to do much of their work virtually.  It was very instructive to learn more about how the European Parliament is dealing with these challenges.  Additionally, since Congressman Veasey is a relatively new Member of the US Helsinki Commission, it was a key outcome for me to learn more about how the European Parliament is organized and to meet some of the key members”.

As with all EUVP virtual visits, the participants gained valuable exposure to the EU Institutions on which to build during their upcoming in-person visit, when international travel resumes. In fact, Askia is already looking forward to his trip to Brussels next year: “I would like to build upon this visit by traveling to Brussels to observe a European Parliament meeting first hand.  I would also like to learn more about how the European Parliament moves from the idea stage to the implementation stage for various policies. And I would like to talk more with European interest groups and industry groups about their interaction with the Parliament”. In fact, the EUVP will work hard to prepare Askia’s in-person programme matching his interests. We very much look forward to welcoming him to the European Institutions. See you in 2021!