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Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons


The International Institute for Peace (IIP), in collaboration with the Austrian Institute for Foreign Affairs, Renner Institute, Admovere and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - Prishtina, cordially invites you to the following series of initiatives:

Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons”

Initiative/Series

March 11th – 13th 2019

Prishtina/ Skopje/ Belgrade

 Day I: Prishtina

Workshop:     14:00h-16:00h

Date:               11th March 2019

Location:        FES office, Mujo Ulqinaku Str. 4/10, 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo

Format:           Seminar/Workshop with youth representatives from the region and from Kosovo  in the early afternoon (with approximately 20 people)

Focus:  Emigration and reconciliation, and here specifically various aspects of the Serbia-                        Prishtina dialogue; 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.

Moderation:       Vedran Dzihic, Senior Researcher at the oiip; Lecturer at the University of Vienna

        Public discussion and exchange between youngsters and political and civil society stakeholders

Content

Caught in a vicious circle between old-fashioned backwards oriented politics and nationalism on one hand side and the lack of economic, educational and social perspectives on the other, young generations in the Balkans seem to be losing patience and when possible emigrating to the West in a search for a better life. UN agencies and experts speak about a massive demographic revolution going on in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, changing societies more than many other developments in their younger history. In parallel, democracies in the region are vulnerable, EU integration process is not delivering fast results, and alternative horizons are not easy to find. Our initiative on turning the flashlights on youth, their progressive stances and hopes for the future wants to ask tough questions about the region, about educational opportunities and limits, about reconciliation, EU hopes and possible illusions. Based on sound and sober assessments of the situation, we want to look forward, sketch alternative horizons, and look for alternatives for South-eastern Europe’s way beyond emigration.

This seminar and the public discussion in Prishtina and Belgrade are the next step of the initiative/series “Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons”. The discussions and results of the regional events will be taken further to European capitals and the region, first to Paris und Bucharest and then to Brussels. Visits and events in other European Cities – among others also in the context of EU presidencies – will prominently feature young participants from the region as ambassadors representing the fresh and alternative view on and of the Western Balkans. By the means of continuous engagement throughout 2019 and beyond, we will keep working on promoting alternatives to the status quo and also embarking upon the real and tough work and action to make alternative horizons possible.

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 Day I: Prishtina

Public Event:     6:00pm-8:00pm

                            “Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons”

Date: 11th of March 2019

Location:    Librria Dukagjini, Rr. Hajdar Dushi, Nr. 6, 10000, Prishtina, Kosovo

Format:       Public panel discussion

Focus:          Emigration & Reconciliation &Education: Visa liberalisation and EU-                         integration and how it shapes the political attitudes of the young people in Kosovo and beyond. Aspects of the Serbia-Prishtina dialogue; the Prespa agreement as a model for Kosovo-Belgrade efforts?

Opening:         Dhurata Hoxha, Minister of European Integration of Kosovo

Hannes Swoboda, President IIP, former MEP

 Panel:             Aulona Memeti, ADMOVERE, Prishtina                                                            

Education /Emigration

Djordje Bojovic, London School of Economics        

New Perspectives on the Prishtina- Belgrade process

Adi Cermiagic, European Stability Initiative  

The Prespa agreement as a model for Kosovo Belgrade efforts?

Agnesa Qirimi (tbc), Kosovar Couth Council,                                                         

Youth initiatives

Frank Hantke, Friedrich Ebert Stifung, Prishtina        

Europeanisation, Visa-liberalisation, EU integration

Moderation:       Vedran Dzihic, Senior Researcher at the oiip; Lecturer at the University of Vienna

Afterwards:        Cocktails for the public at the venue.

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Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons”

Initiative/Series

March 12th

Skopje/Belgrade

Day II - Skopje

Date:               March 12h

Meeting:      10:40 with Nikola Dimitrov, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia

11:00 Round Table with Dane Teleski, Advisor to Prime Minister (tbc)

Day II - Belgrade

Public Event:    6:00 - 8:00 pm   

“Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons”

Date: 12th of March 2019

Location:         Impact Hub, Makedonska 21, Beograd 11103, Serbia

 Format:          Public panel discussion 

Focus:             Reconciliation beyond mythic narratives. History and regional cooperation: How to make the Prishtina-Belgrade dialogue a success story? Learning from the region

Opening:        Hannes Swoboda, President IIP, former MEP

Panel:               Djordje Bojovic, Former program director at European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM), Belgrade                                                                                                    

Reconciliation within the P-B dialogue

Stefani Siprovska, Youth Educational Form, Skopje             

Education and regional cooperation 

Nikola Burazer, Programme Director at the Centre for Contemporary Politics and the Executive Editor at European Western Balkans.                         

Reconciliation beyond mythic narratives

Adi Cermiagic, European Stability Initiative                                     

broad European perspectives

ModerationVedran Dzihic, Senior Researcher at oiip, Lecturer at the University of Vienna

Afterwards:        Cocktails for public at Venue until 8:45 pm

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Young Generations for the New Balkans 2030: Towards Alternative Horizons”

Initiative/Series

March 13th

Belgrade

Day III - Belgrade

Workshop: 10-12:00am      

Date: 13th March 2019 

Location: Hotel Envoy, Čika-Ljubina 13, Beograd 11000, Serbien, Organised by FES

Format:       Seminar/Workshop with youth representatives from the region and from Kosovo                    in the early afternoon (with approximately 20 people)

Goal:                          Reflection on recent events, how to proceed?

Focus:                         Emigration and reconciliation, and here specifically various aspects of the Serbia-                         Prishtina dialogue; 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.

Moderation:       Vedran Dzihic, Senior Researcher at the oiip; Lecturer at the University of Vienna

Introduction:     Presentation of South Study by FES representative