The Western Balkans Ministerial Meeting on Youth brought together ministers and representatives of institutions responsible for youth from across the region in Podgorica on 23 September 2026. Representatives of embassies, regional and international organisations, and partner institutions also attended. Held within the Berlin Process, the meeting focused on the next steps for regional cooperation, stronger youth participation in decision-making, and ways to turn young people’s needs and recommendations into action.
Organised by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and Montenegro’s Ministry of Sports and Youth, the meeting took place under Montenegro’s 2026 Chairmanship of the Berlin Process, in the year of RYCO’s tenth anniversary. It continued the dialogue begun at the Western Balkans Youth Forum in Budva in June, where young people from across the region developed recommendations for the Western Balkans they want to see by 2030. These call for greater investment in skills, mobility, innovation and youth entrepreneurship; stronger support for peace, security, democratic participation and inclusion; and meaningful youth involvement in the green transition and decision-making.
Opening the meeting, RYCO Secretary General Vladimir Obradović emphasised the importance of political support for regional cooperation and young people’s active participation in reform processes.
“Regional youth cooperation depends on political will, sustained commitment and a shared vision for the future of the Western Balkans. We cannot address the region’s economic, social and security challenges without young people. For reforms to be sustainable and credible, young people must be partners in shaping and implementing them, not simply their beneficiaries,” said Obradović.
Obradović also highlighted RYCO’s achievements over the past decade. More than 85,000 young people have taken part in its programmes and initiatives, while over EUR 19 million has been invested in regional youth cooperation, supporting more than 400 projects and ideas across the Western Balkans.
A central topic of the meeting was the proposed RYCO Youth Trust Fund – RYCOncile, a regional fund supported by multiple donors that aims to support youth initiatives, regional cooperation, mobility, inclusion, reconciliation and trust building.
Montenegro’s Minister of Sports and Youth, Zoran Jojić, announced that the Government of Montenegro would contribute EUR 25,000 towards establishing the fund. He stressed that regional cooperation needs concrete institutional and financial support.
“Young people across the Western Balkans are already showing that they are ready to cooperate, exchange ideas and find common solutions. It is our responsibility to give them the space, trust and opportunities to turn that willingness into results. By supporting the RYCO Youth Trust Fund, we want to help create new opportunities for young people throughout the region,” said Jojić.
During the ministerial sessions, participants discussed priorities for regional youth cooperation, how to involve young people more closely in reform agendas, and how to turn political support into lasting programmes and opportunities accessible to young people from different communities.
The meeting brought the recommendations developed at the Youth Forum in Budva before decision-makers in Podgorica, with the aim of securing institutional follow-up. The dialogue will continue at the forthcoming Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Berlin Process Summit, where RYCO will continue to advocate for regional youth cooperation and for young people’s voices to remain part of the wider regional and European agenda.
The Western Balkans Ministerial Meeting on Youth was supported through the multi-donor project Western Balkans School Exchange Scheme, funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and jointly implemented by RYCO and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Photographs and video statements may be found here.