Joint Parliamentary Meeting on Western Balkans, which was held from 26-27 May 2008 in Brussels, was the first gathering of this kind ever organized and had as its main topic the achieving of the European perspective for South East Europe. Mr. Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament and Mr. France Cukjati, President of the National Assembly of Slovenia, co-chaired the two-day meeting attended by the members of the European Parliament, members of almost all the national parliaments of the EU Member States as well as those of the Western Balkans countries, but also the representatives of several other EU institutions. The delegation of Kosovo/UNMIK was also present at the meeting.

This important gathering was a unique opportunity for all delegations to meet personally, voice their opinions about the EU policy towards Western Balkans, present their progress on the path towards the EU, as well as to share experiences and problems that they have encountered in this process.

Our representative, Davor Jancic, Director of the international relations of The Youth Dialogue Programme, had an honor to attend this interparliamentary conference and find out directly what the most significant issues are with regard to Western Balkans and EU integration, with a special emphasis on youth and the possibilities of easier travel to the EU Member States. In this respect, Mr. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, stressed that, besides climate change and energy, one of the priorities of the EU is the regulation of migration and intensifying people-to-people contacts. He mentioned especially the example of Serbia and emphasized that some 70% of Serbian youth have never been abroad and that this alarming fact needs to be addressed as soon as possible through the relaxation of the visa regime and, consequently, its abolition when the conditions are met. The Head of the Serbian delegation, Mr. Oliver Dulic, Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, pointed out the strong political will of the Serbian people to join the EU and expressed his firm belief that a pro-European Serbian government will be formed shortly.

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