Budva, Montenegro, 22 October 2026 – Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), represented by Secretary General Vladimir Obradović, participated in the Berlin Process Leaders’ Summit held in Montenegro, bringing the perspectives and recommendations of young people from across the Western Balkans to regional and European leaders and presenting a new initiative aimed at securing long-term support for youth cooperation.
The Summit, hosted under Montenegro’s Chairmanship of the Berlin Process, gathered leaders from the Western Balkans and European partners to discuss the region’s European integration, economic development, regional cooperation, peace and security. This year’s gathering also marked ten years since RYCO was established within the Berlin Process as a joint initiative of the six Western Balkans Contracting Parties to promote reconciliation, mobility and cooperation among young people.
Addressing the leaders, Secretary General Obradović emphasized that bringing the region’s economies and institutions closer together must go hand in hand with strengthening connections between people and societies.
“The Common Regional Market, the EU Growth Plan and gradual integration offer new opportunities. But these opportunities must translate into better access to education, skills, mobility and employment, giving young people real prospects to build their future in this region,” Obradović stated.
A central part of RYCO’s participation was bringing forward the recommendations developed at the Western Balkans Youth Forum, held in Budva in June 2026. Reflecting young people’s priorities for the region, the recommendations call for stronger cooperation in education, skills and mobility, greater investment in youth-led initiatives, and a regional approach to youth, peace and security, including peace education, media literacy and democratic participation.
Recommendation have been brought into discussions at different levels of the Berlin Process, from the Youth Forum in Budva to the Youth Ministerial Meeting in Podgorica and the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, reaching the Leaders’ Summit as the highest political platform. Obradović underlined that while ensuring young people’s voices are heard is an important achievement, the next step is to provide the institutional support and resources needed to turn their proposals into action.
“Young people do not want to be kept in a waiting room while decisions about their future are being made. They want action. They want tangible measures. And they want to see that the commitments made by their leaders translate into real changes in their lives.”
Obradović also emphasized RYCO’s readiness to work alongside governments and institutions to turn young people’s recommendations into concrete action, drawing on its established regional networks, partnerships and experience in youth cooperation.
In this context, RYCO presented the proposed RYCO Youth Trust Fund – RYCOncile, a new initiative designed to secure more sustainable and long-term support for youth-led initiatives, regional partnerships and trust-building across the Western Balkans. The initiative builds on RYCO’s experience in supporting youth cooperation over the past decade and seeks to provide a stronger foundation for its continuation.
Welcoming Germany’s commitment of €500,000 and Montenegro’s announced initial contribution of €25,000, Secretary General Obradović invited other Western Balkans Contracting Parties, Berlin Process partners and international donors to join the initiative and contribute to its development.
RYCO’s participation also continued during the Summit’s working lunch, dedicated to the future of the Berlin Process and the region’s youth. The discussions provided an opportunity to reflect on the importance of sustaining regional cooperation mechanisms and creating conditions for young people to build their personal and professional futures in the Western Balkans. Particular attention was given to education, skills, employability and the need to ensure that mobility offers young people opportunities for development, while making staying in or returning to the region a realistic and attractive choice.
Over the past decade, RYCO has engaged more than 85,000 young people and invested over €19 million in programs and initiatives connecting schools, civil society organizations and communities across the Western Balkans. Established as one of the concrete outcomes of the Berlin Process in 2016, RYCO has demonstrated how sustained institutional cooperation can create opportunities for young people to connect, challenge stereotypes and build trust, even in times of political uncertainty.
As RYCO enters its second decade, its participation in the Berlin Process Leaders’ Summit reaffirmed the importance of keeping youth cooperation and reconciliation high on the regional agenda, while ensuring that the commitments made at the political level are followed by concrete opportunities and long-term support for young people across the Western Balkans.