At the summit of Western Balkan countries held in Paris on 4 July 2016, the prime ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, AP Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia signed an intergovernmental agreement on the creation of the Office of the Regional Youth Cooperation (RYCO), and time made another important step in the promotion of dialogue among young people in the western Balkans. The Office of the Regional Youth Cooperation (RYCO), which will begin operations in the second quarter of 2017, was created on the model of Franco-German Office for Youth (OFAJ / DFJV) occurred in the context of the Elysee treaty that on 22 January in 1963. confirmed Franco-German reconciliation.
In order to mark the 54th anniversary of the signing of the Elysee treaty, the Embassies of France and Germany, the Goethe Institute, the French Institute in Serbia, as well as the Franco-German Youth Office, will organise on Monday, 23 January 2017 at 17h at the Goethe-Institut (Knez Mihailova 50), a panel discussion dedicated to the expectations of young people from the civil society from the newly established regional Cooperation Office for Youth.
At the panel discussion, H E Axel Dittmann, German Ambassador, H E Christine Moro, Ambassador of France and Mr Vanja Udovičić, Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Serbia will speak about the importance of the Office of the Regional Youth Cooperation (RYCO) in the context of strengthening cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans. After a full-day workshop at the French Institute, the youth representatives from civil society organizations who were invited by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR Serbia) and “RYCO Friends”, with the support of g. Frank Moraviec, special adviser to the French-German Youth Office, working on the future activities of the Office for Regional Cooperation young people of the Western Balkans, will share with the participants of the panel and the audience with their expectations related to the work of the Office.