Deutsche - Global Balance

159. Belgrade Summit 2009 Serbien/Montenegro
Belgrade Youth Summit 2009
The Belgrade Summit, that took place in the Serbian capital from the 4th to the 6th of December
2009, gathered 300 participants from around the world – young political leaders and civil society
activists from the Western Balkans, Eurasia and the EU, representatives of institutions, member
states and Presidency of the EU, USA officials, as well as human rights activists from around the
world.
The Summit, organized by the
Youth Initiative for Human Rights
(YIHR), aimed at establishing
lasting dialogue and cooperation
among young human rights activists
and civil society representatives in
Western Balkan countries, as well
as sustained communication
between young, future leaders from
this region with the European Union
officials. Young people were thus
able to directly introduce EU
decision-makers to problems and
challenges present in the region.
Young, future leaders from the Western Balkans presented at the Summit key challenges in their
respective countries and ideas toward solving them. An important element of this Summit was
their critical review of governmental and state policies in the region. They analyzed the existing
anti-discrimination laws and policies, the freedom of movement issue, youth policy in the EU and
the Western Balkans, as well as fight against impunity of war crimes and dealing with the past in
the region.
Debates also pertained to how important it is to be an active citizen in local community, future
regional cooperation in the domain of the freedom of information, promotion of democratic
values through culture, as well as inclusion of young people in political and social processes.
The Summit promoted the existing regional initiative for establishment of the Regional
Commission for Truth-Seeking and Truth-Telling about War Crimes, with particular focus on
youth involvement and role.
In global context, the Summit provided a forum for information exchange on work of young
activists in post-conflict societies, societies in transition and those in which democracy is under
threat, with a view to establishing sustainable dialogue and global activist network – global youth
initiative for human rights.
The Summit relyed on work to date of the Democratic Youth Network (which is currently
comprised of young leaders from Eurasia), providing an opportunity for its expansion and
enhancement of cooperation and cohesion within the network.
The Summit will be taking place annually in different centres of the Western Balkans, thus
enabling the EU Presidency to hear young people from the periphery or outside the EU.
Concrete plans for continuation of bilateral and multilateral cooperation among participants shall
be developed, providing concrete steps toward joint activities in between the Summits.
The Summit resulted in a Declaration that was unanimously adopted by 300 participants. The
declaration demands from the Governments of the region to implement all the mechanisms of
transitional justice, to implement adopted laws and enable a more active participation of the
young in public life. The network of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia, Montenegro,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo sent the Belgrade Declaration to all the institutions
of the Western Balkan states and the European Union on 10 December 2009, the International
Human Rights Day. The Declaration especially asks for the recognition of Kosovo documents in
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