Author: Michaela Vas
Michaela Vas is the Editor-in-Chief of the WahlheYmatPost. A Budapest-born, Berlin-based journalist and communications professional, she is passionate about storytelling, civic engagement, and building bridges across cultures. Outside of her professional work, she plays the flute in several orchestras in Berlin.
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Wahl-Kompass: Understanding Berlin Politics Takes More Than Speaking German
WHP: How did the idea for Wahl-Kompass come about? What motivated you to create the platform? Nina Harz: It happened rather spontaneously, shortly before Berlin’s September 2026 election. I wanted to understand the parties’ programs better, so I made a table for myself comparing the issues that matter to me. I shared it with my friends, and Masha (Maria Waldenberg, technical…
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Democracy at the Späti: What Berlin’s Symbolic Election Revealed
Ahead of Berlin’s September elections, Migrationsrat Berlin e.V. brought the ballot box to an unusual setting: the city’s Spätis. At 11 locations across Berlin, people were invited to take part in a symbolic election and discuss a question that affects a significant part of the city’s population: who gets to have a say in the political decisions that shape their everyday…
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“Berlin taught me to dislike the word integration”
WHP: You worked in humanitarian aid around the world for many years. What ultimately motivated you to found Just-Go-For-It? Marilena Chatziantoniou: I started working in the field of humanitarian aid in 1998. My first assignment was in Albania, where I worked for a small German NGO, just months before the Kosovo crisis. I remember falling in love with the job and…
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“Treat Every Case as Your Own”: How Zaki e.V. Supports Berlin’s Overlooked Migrants
WHP: Can you briefly introduce Zaki e.V.? What is your main mission in Berlin? Pia Bergmann: Zaki – Bildung und Kultur e.V. is a migrant-led organization, with its main office located at the Berlin Global Village in Neukölln and another office in Pankow. The organization’s focus can be summed up in one sentence: arrival and inclusion through education. Zaki (ذكي) comes…
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“Democracy Is More Than Voting”: Sami Atris on Organising Communities in Berlin
WHP: Can you briefly introduce the Berliner Bürgerplattformen? What is its main purpose in Berlin? Sami Atris: Who actually decides what happens in our lives? How much influence do we have over how high our rent is — or whether we can even afford to stay in our neighbourhood? Who decides whether our children go to a good school? What the…
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Ukrainian Voices in Berlin: “People Are Not Objects for Integration Debates”
WHP: Can you briefly introduce the Allianz Ukrainischer Organisationen e.V (Alliance of Ukrainian Organizations)? What is its main task in Berlin? Oleksandra Bienert: The Allianz Ukrainischer Organisationen e.V. is a nationwide association currently bringing together 23 civil society organizations in eight federal states. These organizations were founded by people with a Ukrainian migration background and work predominantly on a voluntary basis.…
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