Regional Youth Cooperation Office - RYCO

🗣️🤝Yesterday at the WB Youth Forum, discussions continued with powerful conversations on youth skills, mobility, regional opportunities, peace, security, and resilience across generations.

The program opened with a Youth Spotlight Keynote by Mr. Lars Westra, EU Youth Delegate to the UN, setting the tone for a day focused on youth perspectives and regional cooperation.

Panel 2, “Region in Motion: Youth Skills, Mobility and Regional Opportunities in the Western Balkans,” brought together Mr. Matthias Herr, Regional Director of Helvetas; Mr. Darko Ivanović, Founder of Digital Den Hub, Montenegro; Mr. Darko Radičanin, Director of Junior Achievement, Serbia; Mr. Arsild Tepelija, Program Analyst, Open Society Foundation; and Ms. Kornelija Cipuseva, Project Manager, SOS Children’s Villages International, North Macedonia. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Brenton Bënja, Tech Journalist, Geek Room.

Panel 3, “Youth-led Peace and Security – Building Resilient Societies Across Generations,” co-designed with UNDP, featured Ms. Caroline Tissot, Resident United Nations Coordinator in Montenegro; Mr. Andi Rabiaj, Executive Director of Youth Voice Network of Organizations, Albania; Ms. Hristina Bozinovska, Advocate for Youth with Disabilities, North Macedonia; Mr. Darko Stojanović, Director of the Directorate for Youth at the Ministry of Sports and Youth in Montenegro; and Mr. Ognjen Marković, Team Leader at WB Youth Policy Lab of RCC.

Stay tuned for more from Day 2️⃣

🗣️A more stable, connected, and prosperous Western Balkans cannot be built without young people, mutual trust, and regional cooperation — this was the key message of the opening panel of the Western Balkans Youth Forum 2026, “From Paris to Budva: A Decade of Youth, Dialogue and Change", moderated by Bojana Lalatovic, Program Coordinator at RYCO.

Looking back on a decade of RYCO’s work across the Western Balkans, Deputy Secretary General of RYCO, Kreshnik Loka, spoke about the role youth exchanges have played in fostering trust, breaking down barriers, and bringing young people closer together across the region, emphasizing that the region looks different today precisely because of the young people who meet, build friendships, and connect.

“The Western Balkans is often associated with fragmentation and division. We should not shy away from that reputation; instead, we should confront it and work together to change it,” Loka said.

Miodrag Milosavljević, Deputy Director for the Western Balkans at the said that while the region continues to face numerous challenges, the experience of youth cooperation and connectivity provides strong reasons for optimism about its future.

Andrea Mićanović, former Youth Representative on the RYCO Governing Board, spoke about the concept of meaningful youth participation, stressing that it cannot be reduced to merely giving young people an opportunity to voice their opinions.

Tobias Bütow, Secretary General of the , said that one of the most significant moments in the history of his organization was its involvement in the establishment of RYCO and its support to young people and governments across the Western Balkans in creating the regional organization.

The Western Balkans Youth Forum 2026 officially opened today in Budva with a clear message: the future of the region belongs to a generation of young people ready to shape it through their actions 🤝

Held within the framework of the Berlin Process and in the year when RYCO marks its 10th anniversary, the Forum emphasized that young people are key drivers of the region’s European future, and that the time of promises must give way to concrete results, cooperation, and joint action.

The Western Balkans Youth Forum 2026 is taking place in Budva from 4 to 7 June under the slogan “From Dialogue to Delivery: Youth Shaping Regional Cooperation.”

RYCO Secretary General Vladimir Obradović highlighted the importance of today’s gathering as an opportunity to discuss not only the future of the region, but also how that future can be shaped together.

Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević stated that the next chapter of the Western Balkans will not be written by those who only speak about challenges, but by those who solve them, adding that young people are uniquely positioned to do exactly that.

You have a key role in the future of Europe. Be confident. Do not ask for permission. Break barriers and open doors. We need people with new ideas and a new agenda,” concluded French Minister Delegate for Europe Benjamin Haddad.

Since 2014, Germany has provided RYCO with almost four million euros in financial support,” Ambassador of Germany to Montenegro, Peter Felten noted, adding that Germany will continue to contribute, this time through the new Trust Fund Initiative.

Stay tuned for Day 2! 👋

📍Budva is bringing the region to the same table.

High-level speakers, regional partners, and young people will come together to open the conversation on how youth can shape cooperation, mobility, peace, the green transition, and new opportunities across the Western Balkans.

🗣️Through these panels, dialogue begins to move toward delivery.

Scroll to explore the full programme agenda.