This year has been pivotal in terms of cooperation between Albanians civil society organizations, reporters and youth activists and their Serbian counterparts. While the official mechanisms of cooperation produced by the Berlin process such as the Regional Youth Cooperation Center (RYCO) have yet to be set in motion most likely after the Paris Summit, the joint projects prompted by the local interest and initiative of CSOs in both countries have progressed at a faster pace.
Such is the example of the Joint Centre for Albania-Serbia relations, undertaken by the Albanian Institute and Europe Movement Serbia which in a couple of months has succeeded to organize several platforms where decision makers, experts, reporters and youngsters have already started to put forward ideas of improving relations, increasing knowledge and interaction and promoting common goals.
After some high profile events in both capitals in the spring of this year, the Centre is already gearing up for hosting 2 significant exchanges in the fall including researchers and journalists. It is a long strategic joint initiative that has a first phase of 3 years to set the main mechanism of interaction. The immediate future goals include investing in more cultural and artistic common activities and exchanges. The initiative is coordinated between partners at every step and includes depending on the specific activity the largest amount of stakeholders. Such a Centre is a true asset to the foreign policy objectives of both countries being based on smart, creative and most importantly authentic ideas that can be traced back not to Brussels, Washington or Berlin but to the desks, conference calls and events lobbies of the responsible organizations in Tirana and Belgrade.
This center is in fact one example of the success of local ownership of processes that have been so far pushed unfortunately exclusively by the European integration or the support of other third parties.
Without taking away any of the value that such an impetus and support provides, the quest for local ownership is still worthy of examination. If solely dependent on outside encouragement and support, projects lack sustainability and sometimes even inspiration.
Therefore the initiatives seeking reconciliation, normalization and improvement between centuries in the Western Balkans need to have a solid local ownership dimension. Improving and expanding relations between Albania and Serbia, two key countries for the stability of the entire region is not an easy task. However as national surveys done by the Centre last year reveal, there is popular support for it. Such joint locally owned strategic interventions add the necessary depth, color and energy to the political will of the leadership in both countries and generate results in decisive segments of society including youth, business community, academia and media.
