Institute for European Affairs is focusing on negotiations between Serbia and the EU as well as on strengthening the capacity of all sides involved in the process. Given the complexity and long duration of the process, the Institute brings together a large number of professionals and external experts with whom organises trainings, debates and other forms of capacity development. We want to contribute to enhanced understanding of Serbia-EU relations. The Institute provides multi-perspective trainings in order to enable active participation of professionals and citizens in the decision-making processes. The Institute actively advocates for fundamental reforms within the EU integration process and in cooperation with partners working on strengthening Serbia's capacity to face the challenges of the global world through collective action. The overall objective is active membership of Serbia in Euro-Atlantic framework for the benefit of all citizens.
What was the topic of the discussion and how was organised?
The topic of the discussion was “ The role of youth in Peace and Reconciliation”. In the beginning I started to introduce the “ YRA” programme to the participants, how I became an ambassador and my personal experience during the five-day visit in Belgrade. Discussion was organised in two parts, first was the debate about the power of identity and the process of reconciliation in region, second after the discussion students had the chance to watch a music documentary by Adela Peeva called “ Whose Is This Song “.
Explain the reaction of the participants on your speech.
The reaction of participants, all of which were young people from age of 18-25 was very satisfying. The topic turned out to be very interesting and current in the context of the relation between two countries Republic of Kosovo and Serbia.
Have you notice the impact of your lecture on the participants? Explain.
Yes, they were quite interested on the topics we discussed together. Five from the participants were from Serbian nationality so I invited someone to translate from Albanian to Serbian. We all agreed that we should do more to remove stereotypes and prejudices by participating in programmes like this.
What were the questions posed by the participants and how did you react?
First questions were about the YRA programme, how to apply and what are the criteria’s for applying. Then they were interested about the process of reconciliation in the region, What exactly does reconciliation look like? How does it manifest itself? And how do we younger generation measure to impact in societies?
