The International Institute for Peace (IIP), in collaboration with the Austrian Institute for Foreign Affairs, Renner Institute, Admovere and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung – Pristina is organizing series of initiative titled Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons.
The initiative/series will take place in tree cities: Pristina, Skopje and Belgrade from the 11th till 13th of March 2019.
The first pannel will take place in Pristina on the 11th of March with the fokus on emigration, reconciliation and Education followed by the issues of visa liberalisation and EU-integration and how it shapes the political attitudes of the young people in Kosovo and beyond. The aspects of the Serbia-Pristina dialogue and the Prespa agreement as a model for Kosovo-Belgrade efforts would be on the agenda as well.
The speakers of the first panel, moderated by Vedran Džihić, Senior Researcher at the OIIP; Lecturer at the University of Vienna, will be Đorđe Bojović, Master student at the London School of Economics, Adi Ćermiagić, European Stability Initiative and Frank Hantke, Friedrich Ebert Stifung, Pristina.
The second day (12th of March) is reserved for Skopje and Belgrade. After a morning meeting with Nikola Dimitrov, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia followed by rounding table Dane Teleski, Advisor to Prime Minister, the initiative/series are moving to Belgrade.
The focus of the first panel discussion taking place in the late afteroon in Belgrade will be on reconciliation beyond mythic narratives, history and regional cooperation, how to make the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue a success story and how learn from the region.
The speakers of the this panel, moderated by Vedran Džihić, Senior Researcher at OIIP, Lecturer at the University of Vienna will be Đorđe Bojović, Master student at the London School of Economics, Stefani Siprovska, Youth Educational Form, Skopje, Nikola Burazer, Programme Director at the Centre for Contemporary Politics and the Executive Editor at European Western Balkans, Adi Čermiagić, European Stability Initiative.
Seminar/Workshop with youth representatives from the region and from Kosovo in the early afternoon is planned for the third day – 13th of March. The seminar will take place in Belgrade.
The focus will be on emigration and reconciliation, and here specifically various aspects of the Serbia-Pristina dialogu, the Prespa agreement as a model for Kosovo-Belgrade efforts. The issue of visa liberalisation and EU-integration and how it shapes the political attitudes of the young people in Kosovo and beyond will be raised as well.
The workshop will be moderated by Vedran Džihić, Senior Researcher at the OIIP; Lecturer at the University of Vienna.
Young generations in the Balkans are caught between old-fashioned backwards oriented politics and nationalism and the lack of economic, educational and social perspectives, which is why they are losing patience and when possible emigrate to the West in a search for a better life.
The main idea of these series of initiatives is to look forward, sketch alternative horizons, and look for alternatives for South-eastern Europe’s way beyond emigration.