A total of 1,469 Turkish youngsters will be able to travel across Europe for free this summer through DiscoverEU, together with hundreds of youngsters from other countries.
Discover EU is an action of the Erasmus+ programme that gives the opportunity to 18-year-olds from all backgrounds to travel across Europe, build new friendships with fellow youngsters, learn from other cultures, and explore their European identity.
The most recent round of applications for DiscoverEU closed in late March, and participants from all the Erasmus+ participating countries have already been selected.
Data provided by the European Union Commission show that of all participating countries, youngsters from Türkiye filed the highest number of applications.
A total of 21,560 applicants from Türkiye applied for the free travel pass. However, since the number of passes is limited and needs to be distributed to youngsters from other countries, too, only 1,469 Turkish youngsters were selected, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Now that the application period has been closed, the selected applicants will get to travel this year as well as the next one too, predominantly by rail.
The Commission explains that all selected Turkish and other youngsters will be able to travel for up to 30 days between June 15, 2023, and September 2024. They will be able to travel solo or add up to four friends to the group, provided that everyone meets the eligibility criteria.
According to Eurostat, youngsters from all countries associated with the Erasmus+ programme have been selected, with some having a larger number.
Under the March 2023 application round, German youngsters have been issued the highest number of free travel passes. Figures who that a total of 6,072 applicants from Germany have been selected for this round.
German youngsters are followed by those from France (4,919), Italy (4,341), Spain (3,458), Poland (2,767), and Romania (1,467).
In this round, the Commission registered a total of 145,657 applications and selected 35,324 applicants. The majority of selected applicants are still in school (70.6 per cent), and a smaller percentage of 14.6 per cent just began higher education.
Moreover, 3.9 per cent of the selected applicants are in vocational training, and 3.6 per cent are on a gap year, among others.
Those interested in applying for the next year will be able to do so soon, but the official dates have not been announced yet.
To be eligible to win one of the travel passes offered by DiscoverEU, applicants must be born between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. They must also complete the correct information on the online application form and be a legal citizen of one of the EU Member States or one of the third countries associated with the Erasmus+ programme (Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, and Türkiye).