Last Monday, on November 4th, we held our third in a series of four webinars during which we discussed the youth’s role in the EU integration process with Željko Vukša-Fejzić in his lecture “Generation EU: How Young People from the Western Balkans are Shaping the Integration Process.”
The webinar drew participants joining via Zoom from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. During the webinar, Željko presented an overview of the EU integration processes, especially focusing on the Western Balkan countries and specific programs implemented to encourage the EU enlargement to this region. We ended the webinar with an overview of ways and strategies for youth within Western Balkan countries and those from countries already in the EU to participate in opportunities offered by various EU institutions and related programs. At the end of the webinar, the participants also had an opportunity to ask questions and discuss some related topics with Željko during an interactive and interesting Q&A session.
Željko started his lecture with an overview of the EU accession process – all norms and obligations a country needs to fulfill to make progress on their way towards becoming a member of the Union. He also reflected on the socio-economic but also political challenges countries of the Western Balkans are currently facing and how those problems influence the countries’ progress towards EU membership. One of the most important problems he mentioned was nationalist tendencies of some political elites, especially within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He specifically reflected on the problem of war crimes and genocide denial, separatist narratives and the threat of (political) extremism. Moreover, we discussed the Western Balkans and the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) – the process which aims to stabilize the region politically, support its transition to a market economy, promote regional cooperation, and ultimately facilitate EU membership.
We then moved further to discuss the general public’s thoughts and beliefs regarding the EU accession of the countries. We specifically looked at the results of the research conducted by the Center for Insights in Survey Research you can find here. The data for the research was collected between February 02, 2024 and March 05, 2024 through face-to-face interviews in respondents’ homes while the sample sample consisted of: 1,225 adults (BiH); 1,203 adults (Kosovo); 1,220 adults (North Macedonia); 1,036 adults (Montenegro); 1,238 adults (Serbia), and 1,216 adults (Albania). The research found that the support for accession to the EU is overwhelmingly positive in Albania, Kosovo, and BiH, with the highest support observed in Kosovo and Albania. North Macedonia and Montenegro also show high support but to a lesser extent. Serbia stands out with the least support and the highest opposition among the countries surveyed. This suggests a strong regional divide in public opinion regarding accession, particularly with Serbia showing relatively more resistance.
We finished the webinar with a reflection on the biggest challenges faced by youth in the Western Balkans countries, namely, high unemployment rates, corruption, limited opportunities, lack of trust in the institutions, brain drain and the enlargement fatigue. Željko ended his lecture with some tips on resources, different programs and initiatives youth can join in order to play a more active role in the Western Balkans countries’ integration into the EU but also in tackling challenges youth within their countries face in their everyday professional and private lives. Some recommendations can be found here:
We express our appreciation to Željko Vukša-Fejzić for generously sharing his invaluable insights from his professional experience with our PYN members, activists, and all other interested participants. We also deeply appreciate everyone’s active participation in this stimulating webinar.
We eagerly anticipate reconnecting with you all in our upcoming webinar session on November 21st at 18:00 when we will talk with Maja Krištafor about “How to Build Your Personal Brand”! You can already register for Maja’s lecture here!