The seminar gathered MPs and parliamentary staff from Western Balkan countries and Turkey, viz. delegations from Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, as well as representatives of UNMIK/Kosovo.
The delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia comprised members of the Committee on Education, Science, Technological Development and the Information Society Jovana Mehandzic Djurdjic, Radoslav Komlenovic, Dr Neven Cveticanin and member of the European Integration Committee Karolj Cizik.
Doris Pack, Chair of the EP Committee on Education and Culture, who chaired the gathering, gave the opening address. The seminar was also attended by MEPs and representatives of the European Commission.
On the behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Dr Neven Cveticanin spoke briefly about the system of education and upbringing in the Republic of Serbia, stressing that Serbia was ready to work on improving its education and securing better living conditions for the youth.
The participants agreed that the exchange of experience and views on the youth and education is vital both for the Western Balkan countries and Turkey and the European Parliament and European Commission. This issue is also significant in view of the high unemployment rates among the youth in the Western Balkan countries and the EU. They proposed that the members of parliamentary committees in charge of education issues from the Western Balkans and Turkey offer more active support to education reforms, so that the education profiles might match up to labour market needs.