Third Joint Session of the US Congress
March 25, 2021
Last week’s session exposed just how deep the rift is between the Democrats and the Republicans, and whilst the former seemed united in ridiculing any Democratic advances, the Democrats on the other side, despite having the majority, were on the back foot. However, Democrat Senators Manchin and Warner stood strong against the verbal onslaught and hence…
Read moreSecond Joint Session of the US Congress
March 18, 2021
Last week’s 2nd session kicked off right away with a fierce debate over the agenda. Unexpectedly, the Republicans showed an eerily united front and came together against great odds to push forward their conservative plans. Concurrently, the Democrats, consisting of only 3 factions, failed to find a common understanding, and got outvoted in the agenda selection….
Read moreFirst Joint Session of the US Congress
March 11, 2021
Having been surprised by the sheer number of participants last week from both ETH and EPFL, we continue simulating every Thursday the U.S. Senate. After the First Session had been marked by considerable disagreements between the Republicans and the Democrats, this Thursday we will discuss what major topic should be addressed in detail – whether this will be Education, Health,…
Read moreEleventh Session of the Kosovo Conflict
December 10, 2020
The penultimate Session saw the building of a united front. Conflicts in opinion were negligible as all the amendments negotiated in the last sessions were passed. It is hard not to make a remark about the lilliputian size of the committee, where iconic quotes such as „With 2 votes in favor this motion passes!“ could…
Read moreTenth Session of the Kosovo Conflict
December 3, 2020
The last session continued along its usual line, where Serbia, China and Russia had been eloquently presenting their strong economic partnership which strives to bolster an admirable economic growth in the Western Balkans. Likewise, as the Draft Resolution revealed more and more misleading and ambiguous statements, the Serbian delegation proposed to submit a new version….
Read moreNinth Session of the Kosovo Conflict
November 26, 2020
After the progressive talks two weeks ago had culminated in the proclamation of Draft Resolution 1, last week the debate stood on the brink of being closed. At that point, delegates decided to give a glance at the resolution’s content. Points 4 and 5, which state among others that Serbia recognises Islam while Kosovo was…
Read moreEighth Session of the Kosovo Conflict
November 19, 2020
With MUN EPFL joining our sessions last week, the number of delegates grew larger with Greece and Croatia joining the Kosovo-Serbia peace talks. In comparison to the previous session, the general atmosphere changed from hard negotiation towards adopting a rather moderate tone. Both Serbia and Kosovo loosened their uncompromising rhetoric by waiving some of their…
Read moreSeventh Session of the Kosovo Conflict
November 12, 2020
The second Zoom Session led to a more organized debate then expected. The bigger countries like Russia, China and the USA have finally joined into a consensus of solidarity, actually listening to each other’s ideas, instead of dismissing them with caustic reproach. Although the divide caused by bloc-mentality has noticeably weakened, Kosovo‘s and Serbia‘s attitudes…
Read moreSixth Session of the Kosovo Conflict
November 5, 2020
Last week’s MUN session was the first this semester to have been moved to zoom. The number of delegates has reduced and the tensions have increased. Communication has been hindered not only by the lack of direct contact, and the inconvenience of break out rooms for unmoderated caucuses, but also due to the increased return…
Read moreFifth Session of the Kosovo Conflict
October 29, 2020
Touted as being the last „real“ MUN Session, the 5th installment of „Arguing for the fate of Kosovo“ didn’t disappoint. The debate quickly went into an unmoderated caucus, where the major powers partook in open dialogue about the creation of a mutual investment fund and the implementation of various programs targeting cultural exchange between Kosovo…
Read moreFourth Session of the Kosovo Conflict
October 22, 2020
Another eventful evening of vigorous debates has steered away from general points, making the general speakers list quite short, and towards concrete solutions. The debate took on a more informal structure as more and more unmoderated caucuses took place, wherein countries within their respective blocks, but also across the aisle, have tried to work out…
Read moreThird Session of the Kosovo Conflict
October 15, 2020
The general atmosphere of the debate finally started stabilizing in the third session. Notwithstanding the bitter battle between the blocks, constructive economical dialogue has slowly manifested into a possible draft agreement. Although authored by China, this initiative has gained popularity among all the Delegates during the unmod with small disagreements on the implementation. The delegates…
Read moreSecond Session of the Kosovo Conflict
October 8, 2020
After the chaotic first session, where the delegates introduced their stances, found allies and talked about their goals, both chairs were surprised that the conflict-ready attitude spilled over into the second session as well. The „economic“ theme introduced by the delegation of Russia, dominated the session, as thinly veiled insults and barbs were exchanged continuously…
Read moreFirst Session of the Kosovo Conflict
October 1, 2020
The first session of ETHMUN in Autumn 2020 was a special one, characterized by masks, a different room and obviously distance between the delegates. However the divisiveness of the topic at hand, namely the independence of Kosovo from Serbia and its recognition by the UN showed an even larger distance between the Agenda’s of the…
Read moreSixth Session Session of the European Council: New Topic!
May 2, 2019
After a refreshing Easter break, the European Council is back in session. On May 02, the new topic on the agenda is EU financial policy. Although perhaps not considered the most thrilling of topics, it does not lack historical significance. After a brief introduction into the topic, the debate was mostly lead by the leaders…
Read moreFifth Session of the European Council
April 4, 2019
In an exhausting overtime session, European leaders finally reached a minimal agreement on the future of European Defence Policy. During the session, the original proposal provided by Hungary, that had already received some criticism from the Commission, was further merged with another proposal from Germany. Upon reviewing and discussing the merged document, several clauses required…
Read moreFourth Session of the European Council
March 28, 2019
Debate remains fruitful, despite a slight drop in attendance. European leaders have started discussing a first draft of conclusions on the matter, spearheaded by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. With the Hungarian proposal on the table–“uncontroversial”, as Orbán called it–the Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker was compelled to address a number of issues with it. Wine-deprived,…
Read moreSecond Session of the European Council
March 14, 2019
With attendance still high, the European Council went into its second session on European Defence Policy. The Committee was joined by many new member, so the larger part of the session was spent on testing the other’s position, whilst finding one’s own.
Read moreFirst Session of the European Council
March 7, 2019
After all 28 current EU member states had been assigned, some even in double delegations, European leaders began discussing and assessing challenges to European security and sovereignty. Especially the issue of Russian aggression was perceived as quite controversial, and so a large number of countries joined the debate, with many successfully delivering their first their…
Read moreFinal Session HS18
December 13, 2018
In a fun and exciting (and a bit more casual) final session, committee members were eager to finalize any leftover drafts, but also took the chance to try out bolder strategies, without having to fear the fallout. This being said, the US, EU, as well as China managed to establish an intellectual property court, that…
Read moreSeventh Session HS18
November 18, 2018
In its seventh session, the WTO General Council began debating the issue of Intellectual Property Rights and their position in a digitalized world. Some members, such as Mexico, were keen to point to the issue of inequality between the rights’ owners and users. They were eager to strengthen users’ positions in an effort to protect…
Read moreSixth Session HS18
November 13, 2018
After decades of diplomatic gridlock and stagnancy, powered mainly by the determination of the United States to keep Iran isolated, the Iranian Delegation finally came forward with an astute proposition for the accession of Iran to the WTO. Having laid out a solid foundation of trust in the previous session among many delegations as well as…
Read moreFifth Session HS18
November 3, 2018
Although Iran submitted its application to the WTO in 1996 already, it had been on hold since. This changed now, as our simulation of the WTO General Council approached the topic. Delegates were quite eager to question Iran on its intentions and commitments in WTO. Bi- and multilateral negotiations with the Iranian Delegation are underway…
Read moreFourth Session HS18
October 27, 2018
With a slightly depleted Committee, mainly related to OxIMUN absences, and an absent Chinese Delegation, debate on the floor quickly exhausted. Bilateral negotiations, however, kept flowing, producing several new partnerships. The EU and the United States gave their Transatlantic Fair Trade Agreement its final (handwritten) touch, thereby establishing a complete Free Trade Area between the…
Read moreThird Session HS18
October 18, 2018
As news broke of the United States’ installment of import tariffs on Chinese iron and steel products in the amount of a whopping 50%, China immediately retaliated with tariffs of the same amount on American soybeans, cotton, and pork. The South Korean Delegation, currently under new leadership, changed its neutral course and steered right into…
Read moreSecond Session HS18
October 11, 2018
For the second session of the WTO General Council, numbers further increased, providing an even cozier atmosphere. Experienced, as well as new delegates joined the debate on the floor and exchanged a few first rhetorical blows. Both the US and China were eager to deny any responsibility for their quarrels, that have kept the whole…
Read moreFirst Session HS18
October 4, 2018
After having successfully managed a reasonably chaotic round of country assignments, the newly appointed delegates to the World Trade Organisation were briefed in detail on the rules and laws of international trade by former ZuMUN Secretary General Marc Sinner. As the first session commenced, all delegations were eager to take the floor. Although commitment was…
Read moreKick-Off HS18
October 1, 2018
This week our annual semester kick off took place. We were delighted to welcome over 100 ETH students. Thank you for the great evening and we hope to see many new faces at our first session on the 4th of October (19.15) at LEE E101.
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