UN RADIO IN KOSOVO

KOSOVO FUTURE YOUNG LEADERS

By Blagoje GRUJIC

NGO Future from Gracanica, near Pristina, was founded in 2001 to deal with actual political issues in the region. In the years after its foundation, NGO Future has organized a number of training courses and seminars. The last project is entitled “Young Leaders” and is aimed to gather a few dozens of the Serbs from all the Kosovo regions with one objective: to form and educate new generation of community leaders.

The people who participate in this course are of different age, but Nenad Rikalo a director of the NGO Futura, explains that most of the participants are pupils from secondary schools in Kosovo.

CUT1: Rikalo – We were surprised how many young people are thinking on different way … how many people want a different life … and those guys could be recognized as future leaders.

Branislav Cup is in fourth year of Gimnazium School in Laplje Selo and he visits regularly almost al of the educational seminars organized by the NGO Future. Branislav came to Pristina from Bosnia in 1997, where he lived all up to March 17th last year. Today, after he experienced one more storm, he lives with his family in Ugljare village, near Kosovo Polje/Fush Kosoves.

He agrees that the political situation in Kosovo today is complex, but he considers it as a challenge for young people who have ideas how to make Kosovo a better place for everyone.

CUT: Branislav – Today we have less and less young people who are happy to deal with politics, and there are more and more guys who consider politics as non-honest job. However, I think just theoposite – I think that the politics is the field in which we have to proof ourselves. And the fact is that most of those who are in politics today, are just old-fashioned guys.

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The issue of decentralization of local authorities is one of the most actual issues in Kosovo political life today. Therefore, the NGO Future organized a seminar in Brezovica beginning of April, stressing the importance of implementation of the process as soon as possible.

One of the facilitators in Brezovica was Dusan Janjic from Belgrade based Forum for ethnic relations.

CUT: Dusan – the issue of decentralization, as an institutional way of ruling and of, what is very important, the control of citizens over the government, is a key issue for the stability of Kosovo. When we have this issue solved, that means we would have solved the issue of cooperation with the Serbs, and cooperation with municipalities in which Serbs are majority, or they are significant minority, or there is no Serbs at all in some municipalities, but they are to work with other municipalities in their own better interest, Why … because the cooperation on that level is much easier, that is the field when we have to solve some practical problems, some issues that are of interest of everybody.

However, the participants of the seminar in Brezovica had opportunity to exchange opinions about the dialogue issue too, as one of the most efficient tools in politics and in changing the public opinion.

Dusan Janjic again.

CUT: Dusan – The extreme requests of Albanians must be met with extreme answer of going outr of the institutions. However, there is a huge space in between those extreme options, and that space is completely open for cooperation and it is not fulfilled. So, as soon as that free space is fulfilled with people who think about correct projects and who knows to respect agreements about the strategic objectives, the sooner Serbian community will put herself on a political level not be treated as an object, not from Jesen-Petersen side, nor from Albanian side, nor from Belgrade side. I think that Serbian community here deserves a certain level of autonomy, not complete separation from Belgrade, but certain level of autonomy … to make Belgrade used to new reality that they have to listen to the people who live in Kosovo.

The NGO Futura project of educating future political leaders is continuing, and many similar seminars are already scheduled. Some of these guys could easily join the political scene very soon, in a few years, probably on next parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

With this we end today’s program. Thanks for listening us and stay tuned.