“…. "Half of all young people are considering living abroad", page 8. That's all I see. That small headline in the left corner. If they let us come and go as we'd like to, everything would be different. We would come back. This way. each chance is your last chance. We know it well. That's why we don't come back. That's why we leave for good. That's why we forget. It's not just the money and the good jobs. It's freedom. Which we don't have.”……” I feel the weight of our doom, of all the people around me, the ones who are desperately going after visas, Europe, freedom. This will never pass, I reckon” (Yet Another Departure by Vitomirka Trebovac, Best Stories from Visa Queues) Youth in the Balkans need to shed a sense of inferiority as victims, and to unite with other like-minded youth. The inability to experience other cultures and other worldviews results in the development of ghetto-logic. To overcome the great challenges that confront them, young people should get connected more to the global stage. The open minded, visionary and socially aware youth of the Balkans has an active role to play in the region’s development today, not tomorrow. |
| With the aim of promoting European values in future generations, the Fund will undertake and support initiatives allowing young generations in the Western Balkans to experience and learn about Europe. These initiatives will: - address opportunities that exist for young people to play an active role in contributing to the development of the Balkan region;
- serve as catalisators for emerging positive change makers and leaders in the Balkan societies;
- encourage the spirit of co-operation by identifying new connecting issues for young generations in the region and the EU;
- create a network of ‘young ambassadors’ of the region.
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Skopje: 4 December 2009
