Youth Atlantic Treaty Association

Jeunesse de l'Association du Traité Atlantique

Brussels, August 21 2018
Ref. 2/8/2018

Subject: Statement from the YATA Executive Board on the Bucharest YATA ‘General
Assembly’

Dear representatives of YATA National Chapters,

On 17th July, the ATA Secretariat has called for a new YATA GA to be held in September
2018, despite having a YATA GA in March 2018. As you may be aware, after continued
and unsubstantiated attacks by the ATA Presidency against the YATA Executive Board
and individual persons, YATA President John Jacobs did make a gentleman’s
agreement about the possibility of holding a new YATA General Assembly, a gesture
of goodwill to move forward in our discussions.

However, having consulted with a number of you, and given its increasingly doubtful
purpose and the broader actions taken against YATA, we wish to distance ourselves
from this so-called YATA ‘General Assembly’. Our decision comes in the context of
steps taken by the ATA Presidency outside its competence, unsubstantiated attacks
and questioning of the Executive Board’s legitimacy by the ATA Presidency, and the
unfulfilled commitments from the ATA Presidency towards YATA, including
outstanding invoices and reimbursements for the March 2018 YATA GA.

Despite multiple attempts from our side, the ATA Secretariat remains unresponsive to
our queries. More importantly, that the current Executive Board has not been invited
to the meeting, will thus not chair the meeting, and has not been part of its planning
and organisation, is a blatant breech of Article 17 of the YATA Constitution;
furthermore, that the Executive Board was not involved in choosing the Chief
Returning Officer is a further violation of Article 35 of the YATA Constitution, and
again showing that the ATA Presidency is acting outside its competences and with
sheer disregard for either ATA or YATA Constitutions.

While the Executive Board has been excluded from the processes, and we have not
been invited to participate, the ATA Presidency has further changed the wording of the
‘gentleman’s agreement’ (adding the word 'new' before the wording ‘the board’ - mind
you, we do not fear a democratic challenge!), making it plain that the sole purpose of
such meeting is to replace the current YATA Executive Board and thus annul the
results of the March 2018 YATA GA.

Therefore, having consulted with a number of you, and being aware of the
consequences of holding such new ‘GA’ just 7 months after the previous one, we
continue to be skeptical about the intentions, and we fear that the presence of young

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 people will be simply misused to secure funding that will not go to the benefit of YATA
(in particular a ‘GA’ programme that is only scheduled to last 3 hours).

To understand the context and the broader ramifications, we would further like to
draw your attention to the email correspondence (in attachment) sent to you all on
29th June by the YATA VP Dr. Igor Merheim-Eyre and a follow-up from our President
Lt. John Jacobs from 18th July. In this regard, we would like to underline the point
that, while we are unafraid of a democratic challenge through another GA, any such
new meeting may potentially have a number of ramifications:

1. Since the ATA Presidency has not honoured its financial commitment made to YATA
during the December 2017 ATA GA, any new meeting to be held in September must
come with financial support from the ATA as well as paying outstanding invoices and
reimbursements for March 2018 and December 2017. Given the overall financial
situation of the ATA, this seems doubtful.

2. The March 2018 YATA GA was held in a quorum, and thus represents a democratic
will of YATA National Chapters. Any moves to delegitimize the March 2018 YATA GA:
a) Might put into question the ATA’s financial commitment and the honouring of the
outstanding invoices and reimbursement for March 2018 YATA GA;
b) Would make the current YATA Executive Board an illegitimate body (though in
doing so it would revert the board back to Jacobs I);
c) Would null and void the recognition of new YATA Chapters during the March 2018
YATA GA, including, YATA US, YATA UK, YATA Ukraine, YATA Italy, YATA Estonia
and YATA Canada;
Taking into consideration the possible impact of such new ‘GA’, we would like to stress
again that there are no clauses in either the ATA or YATA Constitutions that give the
ATA Presidency the power to overturn the results of a YATA GA, or question the
Executive Board’s legitimacy. The situation is all the more confusing given the ATA
Presidency’s presence, and congratulations to the current Executive Board on its
election.

We stress the integrity of our elections and, while we recognize YATA as an integral
part of the ATA, we must strongly underline the continued relevance and validity of
the YATA Constitution of 2008 which should be respected and not overruled through
provisional actions without proper warning, reasoning and substantiation.

To this end, we have agreed as an Executive Board not to attend such meeting and,
instead, to focus on the strengthening of our network and working with our
transatlantic partners until the end of our mandate at the next GA in 2019. In this
regard, we also ask YATA National Chapters not to attend the meeting in Bucharest
and, in turn, legitimise unfulfilled promises and unconstitutional steps.

We deeply regret the current situation and once again call on the ATA Presidency to
return to constructive dialogue, to respect both ATA and YATA Constitutions, and to

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 work together to strengthen both our network and the wider transatlantic community
in these challenging times.

We remain at your disposal to answer any questions you may have.

Acting in unanimity,

The 23rd YATA Executive Board

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