27 young leaders who are all alumni of the schools of politics in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro have successfully completed their participation in the Regional Academy “European Perspective for the Western Balkans”. The MEP and deputy chairman of the Group of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, Andrey Kovachev, awarded the diplomas during a solemn ceremony. In his speech, he stressed on the importance of the accession of the Balkan countries to the EU and commented on hot issues for the future governance of the Union in the next parliamentary term.

The Academy was held from 2nd to 6th of July. Its main objective was to improve the regional co-operation and connectivity on the Balkan Peninsula, as well as the European integration of the Western Balkans region. The Academy is an initiative of the Bulgarian School of Politics, implemented with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy.