Dear TIG Members!
On October 6, 2004 TIG Russia team launched the Russian version of the TIG site. The event took place in Microsoft's offices in Moscow. This is the first major event held by TIG as part of its international project, Creating Local Connections: Russian Youth Online, which is implemented in partnership with Sozidanie Foundation, the Russian Volunteer Development Centre and Microsoft Russia.
The launch of TIG in Russian was the result of more than two months of joint efforts by TIG staff and TIG Russian-speaking members on the development of the Russian version of the site. 500 members from Russia joined TIG's online community in September and over 300 participated in TIG's National Youth Essay Contest, What I Would Like to Tell the World About Russia. Several local and international organizations, media representatives and TIG Russia members attended the launch of the site. Participants were invited to share their ideas about the ways in which TIG online community can inspire Russian youth to connect with other young people in their country as well as in other parts of the world. Check out more updates about TIG initiatives and projects in Russia! Tell your friends about the Russian version of TIG and learn about how you can get involved!

Hello all,
I just returned from Montreal where I took a course on European integration organized by the Centre for German and European Studies at York U and U of Montreal. We had some pretty good discussions as to the challenges and dilemmas of the EU enlargement and looked at the draft of the Constitution. I think it's interesting to see how the bigger EU will manage the challenges of cultural, linguistic and structural diversity. Also, the question of national vs supranational institutional arrangement has to be taken into account.
During the course we watched "No man's land", it's a film about the war in ex-Yugoslavia. It's quite good. Check it out if you have a chance.