#vote4friendship - for Europe (FOTO)

Munich (ots) -

With a new version of a classic Queen song and high-profile
advocates, a music campaign is drumming up support for the European
elections: in favour of the European ideal and against nationalism
and marginalisation

- Pan-European music project: Young artists from all 28 EU
countries join forces to cover "Friends Will Be Friends" by Queen

- Campaign objective: for 50 NGOs from over 20 countries, as the
party-independent, pro-European "Alliance4Europe", to mobilise
additional three million non-voters to cast their vote in the
elections on 23-26 May

- Support from BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, Deutsche Post
Foundation, Mercator Stiftung, DDB Warsaw, Serviceplan Group,
European Front, Agora, CoInvest, Pulse of Europe, The Good Lobby,
Katapult Filmproduktion GmbH, Mokoh Music GmbH, Factor product,
Cities of Gda?sk and Warsaw and prominent advocates such as
Christopher Clark, Timothy Garton Ash, Nick Stern, Agnieszka Holland
and Ulrich Wickert

Just imagine, it's the European parliamentary elections - and only
opponents of Europe turn up at the polls. Instead of waiting around
to see what happens, Alliance4Europe - an informal, independent
network of 50 civil society organisations and initiatives from 20 EU
member states - is taking action now. On 13 May, Alliance4Europe is
sending out a strong musical appeal to the whole of Europe with the
#vote4friendship campaign: 30 artists from 28 member countries are
coming together to sing the Queen hit "Friends Will Be Friends",
which the band made available royalty-free for this purpose. The
collaborative music video will be released across Europe.
Alliance4Europe's campaign is primarily aimed at young EU citizens
who take the achievements of the European Union for granted but, for
the most part, do not go to the polls. The last time a new European
Parliament was elected, only 43.09 percent of all eligible voters
actually cast their vote.

A song for friendship and freedom - and against hatred and
marginalisation

The focus of the campaign is a three-minute music video of the
Queen song "Friends Will Be Friends" featuring 30 artists from 28
countries. As well as the musicians, the video also features people
from every European country who are coming together to stand for the
campaign's pro-European message. The participating performers,
including soul and funk artist Oceana from Germany, Portuguese singer
Virgul and Swedish alternative rockers Normandie, are not only making
a musical contribution, but showing their commitment to the idea of a
pan-European friendship in emotional video statements, which they are
actively sharing with their national and international fans and
followers.

Friends of Europe, unite!

#vote4friendship is aimed in particular at young Europeans who are
meanwhile hard to reach with traditional campaigns and therefore more
easily manipulated by targeted disinformation in the digital media.
The campaign relies on the power of dialogue and is based on digital
building blocks and formats that can be actively shared among civil
society. A wide supporter network of European influencers, prominent
multipliers like, Christopher Clark, Timothy Garton Ash, Nick Stern,
Agnieszka Holland, Ulrich Wickert and organisations like the BMW
Foundation Herbert Quandt, Deutsche Post Foundation, Mercator
Stiftung, DDB Warsaw, Serviceplan Group, European Front, Agora,
CoInvest, Pulse of Europe, The Good Lobby, Katapult Filmproduktion
GmbH, Mokoh Music GmbH, Factor product, Cities of Gda?sk and Warsaw
shares a common interest: to strengthen the European idea across all
borders from a cultural, economic and living perspective. All
campaign contents, videos and statements are therefore available on
the website www.vote4friendship.eu and
www.alliance4europe.eu/resources to download and share on all social
media channels and platforms.

No vote, no voice

Of all EU citizens who are eligible to vote in the European
elections, over half don't. At the last elections for the European
Parliament, the voter turnout throughout Europe was 43.09 percent.
"By staying silent, millions of EU citizens, who enjoy living in a
united Europe and reap its benefits on a daily basis, are opening the
door to a radical minority that wants to jeopardise our Europe," says
Sonja Stuchtey (47), initiator and managing director of
Alliance4Europe. Founded in November 2018, the NGO is opposing this
with the Europe-wide omnichannel campaign #vote4friendship. Its aim
is to break the silence of non-voters aged between 18 and 35 across
Europe and to motivate at least three million of them to cast their
vote.

About Alliance4Europe

Alliance4Europe was founded by entrepreneur Sonja Stuchtey
together with 25 Europeans in November 2018. It represents an agile
network of civil society groups and citizens in Europe who are
committed to safeguarding the European Union and its values. The
first milestone of the commitment of Alliance4Europe and all its many
supporters, partners and local participating organisations in all EU
member states is simple: by uniting civil society in a common cause,
they want to reinforce the positive image of the European Union among
young Europeans in the run-up to the elections for a new EU
Parliament on 26 May 2019. In addition to the music video initiative,
via the newly created "Alliance EU Wiki" Alliance4Europe is also
initiating and coordinating information campaigns, bar camps, panels
and many other decentrally organised projects throughout the whole of
Europe under the motto #vote4friendship.

After the European elections, Allianz4Europe will continue to
support projects that encourage a dialogue in Europe. It promotes
pro-European groups and organisations, coordinates Europe-wide
campaigns and, with its extensive combined online reach, enables the
wide-reaching communication and sharing of best-practice projects and
pro-EU narratives.

Alliance4Europe is a non-profit organisation (gGmbH) without any
political affiliations.

Contact:
Serviceplan Public Relations & Content GmbH & Co. KG
Eva Sophie Vogelgesang
Brienner Str. 45 a-d
80333 München
Phone: +49 89 / 2050 4154
E-Mail: a4eu@serviceplan.com

Original-Content von: Alliance4Europe, übermittelt durch news aktuell