Brussels is seeking help from the world's most famous singer-songwriter: Taylor Swift.
European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas made the direct plea on Wednesday morning (January 10) to the pop star, who helped create an impressive surge in voter registration in the US, as the institution looks to reverse the historically low voter turnout in the upcoming European Parliament elections.
Schinas spoke about "the importance for young Europeans to participate in this year's European election," scheduled to take place between June 6-9. Experts anticipate a cruel summer for the EU as the far-right makes inroads in opinion polls.
"Now it's the moment for them (youth) to have a say in the ballot box, to attribute praise or blame on European policies. And it is therefore crucial, I think, that we have, as we had in 2019, a high level of participation of young Europeans in the June elections," he said.
"No one can mobilise youth better than young people, that's how it works."
Schinas then invoked Swift's name to underline his point.
"Just to give you an example: Taylor Swift, last September — she made a social media call to young Americans to register to vote. The day after her post, 35,000 young Americans had registered to vote," he explained, referring to the short message that Swift shared last year on her Instagram account, which has more than 270 million followers.
Swift is scheduled to bring her highly acclaimed Eras Tour to Europe starting on May 9 in Paris, a date that, as Schinas pointedly remarked, will coincide with Europe Day. Besides France, the European leg will feature sold-out shows in other EU member states, including Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria.
"Taylor Swift will be in Europe in May," Schinas said. "So I will very much hope that she does the same for young Europeans and I very much hope that someone from her media team follows this press conference and relays this request to her."