More than 150 young people from around the world participated: Sarajevo Youth Summit concluded

Last night, the Sarajevo Youth Summit concluded with the presentation of the youth declaration. Over 150 young people from around the world, across 23 sessions and six side events, had the opportunity to discuss ways to thaw conflicts in which our societies have been stifled for decades, the relationship between activism and politics, ways to protect all minorities, and the nationalist threats that always loom over the countries of the region, reports the Patria news agency.

Participants exchanged ideas and experiences with activists from around the world, sharing knowledge on fighting authoritarian regimes, activism in the digital age, and ways to create lasting and stable peace in post-conflict societies.

The organizers stated that Sarajevo has always been a city that knew how to recognize and accept all people of good will, regardless of where they come from or what they are called, a city that was always enriched by differences, just as Sarajevo enriched every summit visitor. It was also said that the scars left on Sarajevo twenty years ago remind us to remember, teaching us how to be people who will create a world in which the horrors and suffering that Sarajevo endured will never be repeated.

It was concluded that although they come from all over the world, what they all have in common is that their countries are still young democracies in transition, that all countries struggle with similar problems, and that although miles apart, they know each other well and understand each other perfectly.

To the participants from Kosovo who were stopped at the exit from Serbia and were not allowed to leave Serbia with Kosovo documents, their young colleagues at the summit conveyed that their problems are not only theirs, that they will remain in permanent contact, and that they can always count on the help and support of all participants of the Sarajevo Youth Summit.

"We owe special gratitude to our friends from Kosovo. The effort they invested to navigate the labyrinths of borders and meaningless bureaucracy reminds us to fight with even greater determination against the remnants of mixed nationalist policies, in order to create as soon as possible an environment in which we will live together in peace, in a world where hard borders will lose their meaning, and we will no longer be connected by problems but by cooperation, jobs, and friendships," said Anita Mitić, director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Serbia.

As announced, on the last day of the summit, a joint youth declaration was presented. The declaration will be submitted to institutions in the region and the EU. Some of the demands to the governments of the Western Balkans are:

1. To take concrete steps in establishing the Regional Youth Cooperation Office of the Western Balkans and to create new foundations for reconciliation among our peoples. The first step must be the inclusion of Croatia as an equal partner in this process.

2. To fully support the RECOM initiative and, 20 years after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, and 16 years after the war in Kosovo, 14 years after the conflict in Macedonia, to show full respect for all victims of the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

3. To immediately tackle the problems of freedom of movement, especially between Kosovo and Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

4. To focus on resolving all open issues that burden the progress of our region, particularly issues from Bosnia and Herzegovina and relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

5. To direct all attention to the adoption and full implementation of laws guaranteeing rights for all minority groups in all countries of the region.

6. To encourage youth activism and provide all opportunities for new generations to engage in the reform process and gradually assume leadership roles in the future of the region.

7. To show solidarity and offer a solution in coordinating the region in the context of the current humanitarian crisis that refugees passing through the region are facing.

This is the third youth summit organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. The first was held in 2009 in Belgrade, and the second in Pristina in 2012. The next summit is announced for 2016 in Zagreb.