TIRANA – RYCO Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General, Mr Albert Hani and Mr Denis Piplaš, met with Secretary General of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) Mr Christian Spahr on Monday, 28 March when they got familiarized with the work AER and discussed possible areas of cooperation between the organizations.
RYCO representatives shared the organization’s current programmatic priorities and cooperation projects underlining the flagship initiatives such as the RYCO Superschools, RISE, ROUTE WB6, EU-WB-SI.
On the other side, AER gave an overview of its institutional structure and presence in the Western Balkans. Especially relevant was the Eurodyssey, a longstanding program of AER which allows young job seekers aged between 18 and 30 to benefit from a traineeship placement abroad for a period between three to seven months.
RYCO and AER agreed that regional cooperation projects and youth mobility are a prerequisite for a peaceful future and integration of the Western Balkans in the EU.
Finally, the representatives of both organizations agreed on a follow-up meeting where the potential cooperation could be further discussed.