PODGORICA – RYCO Local Branch Office in Montenegro, in cooperation with the FORUM MNE and the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, has organized a roundtable on RYCO with a special focus on the work of the Local Branch Office in Montenegro on Monday. The roundtable was organized with an aim to gather all partners and relevant stakeholders and to emphasize achieved results, but also to announce planed activities and expectations for the forthcoming period. Opening speeches were delivered by Minister of Sports of Montenegro Mr Nikola Janović, Minister of European Affairs of Montenegro Mr Aleksandar Andrija Pejović, Head of OSCE Mission to Montenegro Ms Maryse Daviet and RYCO Secretary General Mr Đuro Blanuša.
The keynote speakers emphasized the importance of establishing RYCO and clearly indicated that this is a mechanism that is a prerequisite for cooperation and good neighbourly relations between RYCO Contracting Parties.
Mr Janović emphasized that Montenegro strongly supports the work of RYCO and that it is the first Contracting Party which provided the premises for the work of the local office. Mr Pejović said that RYCO has already been recognized as an important regional initiative which, within the framework of the Berlin Process, contributes to the accession of the region into the EU. Ms Daviet emphasized that RYCO is a key regional initiative and that, bearing in mind the mission and vision of RYCO, the OSCE in Montenegro recognizes it as a natural partner and added that OSCE will continue to support it, especially the Local Branch Office in the upcoming period.
Mr Blanuša said that the obvious results of the work of the RYCO Local Branch Office in Montenegro were possible thanks to the encouraging support of the Government of Montenegro which fulfilled all its obligations, but also because of partners such as the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and partners within civil society.
The first panel was dedicated to the importance of the Berlin Process for the region, where representatives of the embassies of the Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria and Italy were participating. It was pointed out that RYCO is a regional initiative, which is the first concrete result of the Berlin Process, and that it should certainly encourage the cooperation in other areas where results are expected.
The last panel was addressed by RYCO Program Officer Ms Bojana Bulatović, as well as the members of the RYCO Governing Board, Youth Representative in the GB Mr Dimitrije Jovićević and Government Representative in the GB Mr Nenad Koprivica. The moderator of the panel final panel, Local Branch Officer in Montenegro Mr Edin Koljenović, presented the results of the work of the organization since its establishment. The implementation of the First Open Call for Project Proposals and the organization of the 41 info sessions in the region were especially highlighted, which confirmed to RYCO that there is a need and willingness to work on connecting young people and reconciliation through the implementation of such programs.