TIRANA – RYCO Secretary General Mr Đuro Blanuša, RYCO Deputy Secretary General Mr Fatos Mustafa, Head of the RYCO Local Branch Office in Albania Mr Kreshnik Loka and RYCO Communication and Visibility Officer Mr Nikola Ristić met with the French Ambassador to Albania Ms Elisabeth Barsacq at the RYCO Head Office in Tirana on Tuesday, 19 January 2021. The meeting discussed the organization’s activities and was an opportunity to introduce the RYCO team to the Ambassador who has started her mandate recently.
Mr Blanuša thanked the Ambassador for the provided support to RYCO by the French Republic and underlined fruitful cooperation between the Embassy in Tirana and RYCO. Moreover, he singled out the cooperation between RYCO and Groupe SOS Pulse on the RISE project, supported by the French Development Agency. He also highlighted that the success of RYCO was possible because of the strong political support of RYCO’s partners, most notably governments of France and Germany.
Updating the Ambassador on RYCO’s activities, the RYCO Secretary General said that the COVID-19 pandemic had an immense influence on youth exchanges in the region and added that despite the challenges, the youth sector of the region showed its possibilities to adapt and be creative in bringing the youth of the region closer together.
Ms Barsacq underlined that France will keep supporting RYCO in delivering upon its mission and noted the need for stepping up communication of the RYCO activities on the local level. She also invited the RYCO Secretariat for exploring additional ways of cooperation with the Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.