24 May – Gjon Buzuku in Prizren/Prizren

“The key of success is to know each other and learn how to get along with our neighbors”

The third week of “EU Teach a day” talks started with EUSR political advisor Alberto de la Calle visiting secondary school Gjon Buzuku in Prizren. He started by asking the students what the EU meant for them and explained how the European Union concerns each individual and therefore means something different to everyone.

The European Union is an ongoing process and the integration of the Western Balkans will be the next step in building the Union. The origin of the EU is important from the perspective of the Western Balkans as it was created between countries which just came out of war. The idea was to make member states dependent on each other so war would become impossible between them. The structures of the European Union led countries to have common interests and evolve together.

The process of EU’s integration is the most difficult but also the most successful. It is not easy to become a member but the benefits are enormous. Alberto de la Calle reminded the students that it took his own country, Spain, more than twenty years to fully integrate the EU and that many difficulties had to be overcome. However Spain has now become one of the leading countries in the EU. It is important to remember that the difficulties have good justifications. For example, visa liberalization will take time but the result will be that the population of Kosovo will be able to travel in all 27 member states of the Union.

To questions from the students about the future of Kosovo in the EU, Alberto de la Calle answered that the young generations will have the biggest responsibility in the integration process. He also reminded them that it is important to know that the whole Western Balkans region has the same European perspective and that they should move together at the same time in order to create synergies and progress more rapidly towards the Union.