Melda Eren and Jure Hederih – © Gigi Gil

The 20th edition of the SSE Riga IV was won by the mixed-team Balkans: Dangerously Emotional (Melda Eren, Jure Hederih; Munich/Oxford). They won the final motion “THW prefer a world where wealth is seen as shameful” out of Closing Government against the Opening Government Riga Mortis (Roel Schoenmakers, Nastia Grishkova; Tilburg/KCL), the Opening Opposition The Dark Knife (Meradj Oidermaa, Johan Allen; Stockholm) and the Closing Opposition Tartu A (Erik Haamer, Carl-Martin Keerberg). The final was judged by Tin Puljić, Tom Manor, Rasmuss Filips Geks, Edgars Klētnieks and Assel Amangeldi.

In the novice final, Legionnaires of the Kalmar Union (Andrew Mabon, Sebastian Christensen) won out of Opening Government on the motion “TH prefers a world in which people can’t lie”. They defeated Belgrade A (Milena Zoraja, Aleksandra Ćirković) in Opening Opposition, Alien vs Predator vs Brown vs The Board of Education (Tomas Bajelis, Justina Buskaite) in Closing Government and Hillary 2020 (Danielius Kaminski, Mantas Baksys) in Closing Opposition. The adjudicator panel consisted of Vikki Perijainen, Gigi Gil and Rita Chudnovskaya.

Best speakers of the tournament were Melda Eren, David Metz and Marike Breed with an average of 80,4 speaker points each.

Best novice speaker was Anette Andresoo with an average of 77 speaker points.

The Chief Adjudication panel consisted of Gigi Gil, Sharmila Parmanand, Edgars Klētnieks, Rita Chudnovskaya, Tom Manor and Tin Puljić. Responsible for the tab was Martin Küüsmaa. The tournament was convened by Richard Kesküla.

Open Break:
1. Balkans: Dangerously Emotional (Melda Eren, Jure Hederih) – 14 P.
2. Leiden A (David Metz, Marike Breed) – 12 P.
3. Tartu A (Erik Haamer, Carl-Martin Keerberg) – 12 P.
4. The Chilling adventures of Aline and Paida (Aline Fleetwood, Paida Mangondo) – 11 P.
5. supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Anniki Mikelsaar, Anette Andresoo) – 11 P.
6. The Dark Knife (Meradj Oidermaa, Johan Allen) – 10 P.
7. Parassat A (Alikhan Kazenov, Alina Ramazanova) – 10 P.
8. Riga Mortis (Roel Schoenmakers, Nastia Grishkova) – 10 P.
9. Pugs (Vita Raskevičiūtė, Liepa Šeškevičiūtė) – 10 P.
10. Tartu B (Maria Kull, Maarja Tambet) – 10 P.
11. Team Name (Marius Būga, Adelė Brinkytė) – 10 P.
12. Tartu C (Phillipp Wo, Theo Pavlovic) – 10 P.
13. I like my debate tournaments like I like my UK: in the EU (Jacklin Kwan, Rudolfs Treilis) – 9 P.
14. KitchenAid™ (Saskia Bergmann, Triinu Jõgi) – 9 P.
15. #freemelaniatrump2018 (Catherine Sabour, Filip Vytrisal) – 9 P.
16. A new (Talgat Omarov, Malika Mamirova) – 9 P.

Novice Break:
1. Tartu C (Phillipp Wo, Theo Pavlovic) – 10 P. (Open break)
2. Alien vs Predator vs Brown vs The Board of Education (Tomas Bajelis, Justina Buskaite) – 7 P.
3. Belgrade A (Milena Zoraja, Aleksandra Ćirković) – 7 P.
4. Hillary 2020 (Danielius Kaminski, Mantas Baksys) – 7 P.
5. Legionnaires of the Kalmar Union (Andrew Mabon, Sebastian Christensen) – 6 P.

Judge Break:
Assel Amangeldi, Edgars Klētnieks, Elena Müller, Gigi Gil, Piotr Jozwik, Rasmuss Filips Geks, Rita Chudnovskaya, Sharmila Parmanand, Tin Puljić, Tom Manor and Vikki Perijainen.

The Motions:

R1: This house would require companies to hire a significant percentage of employees without university degrees across all levels of their organisation

R2: THBT the EU should cut structural funds to member states that undermine civil and political rights (e.g. restrict court independence, reduce media and academic freedom, etc.)

R3:Assuming the existence of empathy enhancement drugs, THW ban such drugs*

*Drugs that make people more empathetic towards others

R4:THW make the weight of votes proportional to a person’s expected remaining lifespan*

*i.e. younger individuals’ votes carry more weight

PQF: THBT feminist movements should integrate religious messages and institutions into their advocacy

SF:THW ban private military contractors

NF:TH prefers a world in which people can’t lie

F:THW prefer a world where wealth is seen as shameful

jm.