Podgorica – Head of the RYCO Local Branch Office in Montenegro Mr Edin Koljenović met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro Mr Đorđe Radulović on Monday, 7 June, at the premisses of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro.
During the meeting, Mr Koljenović emphasised that RYCO was founded within the Berlin Process in 2016. He highlighted that as a regional initiative that came “from the region, for the region”, the idea received strong support from Germany, France and the European Union that were strongly advocating for enhancing youth cooperation in the Western Balkans through the establishment of regional mechanisms such as RYCO.
Mr Koljenović stressed that RYCO, with the support of its important partner, donors and friends, is currently implementing several regional programmes with a special focus on supporting youth cooperation, youth mobility and the role of youth in strengthening reconciliation processes. He recalled that Montenegro recently took over the chairmanship of the RYCO Governing Board which will last throughout 2021, emphasising that this is an important opportunity for Montenegro to prove that it is a reliable partner and that it strives towards enhancing effective regional cooperation for the mutual benefit of all participants.
In continuation, Mr Radulović underlined that RYCO as an independent institutional mechanism has a great role in promoting cooperation through numerous projects, but also friendships between young people of the region in this way, while building bridges of trust for the future generations.
“Young people are the future of the region, and their connection brings new ideas and erases prejudices,” Mr Radulović concluded.
Both parties agreed that the promotion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation is among the key foreign policy priorities of Montenegro given the overall EU membership aspirations. They concluded that the area of youth cooperation has a particular power and potential towards achieving a common goal of strengthening regional bonds.