Team

Samir Beharić is a Research Officer at The Balkan Forum, a regional multisector platform that works to advance cross-border dialogue and create a shared regional vision for cooperative action in the Balkan region based on economic integration, prosperity, and sustainable peace. He is a Fellow of the Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network (TILN) of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He also serves as a Board Member of the Western Balkans Alumni Association, a regional organization which brings together young people who returned to the region after studying abroad. Samir has widely published both in print and online and was commissioned as an expert consultant for the United Nations (UN), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe, and the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), among others. His human rights activism was recognised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with the 2018 Max van der Stoel Award for his efforts to prevent further ethnic segregation of schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Samir served as the Lantos Congressional Fellow in the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. and as Schuman Trainee at the European Parliament in Brussels. He graduated with a joint degree in Global Studies from the University of Vienna and Leipzig University. 

Eda Bülbül is working as a Research Assistant for Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE) on a Just Transition research project with ENGAGER - European Energy Poverty Network. She is developing her PhD project on Just Transition in Western Balkans. She has Master’s Degrees in Global Energy Transition and Governance from France and International Relations: Turkey, Europe, and the Middle East from Turkey. She has a background in Business-Economics. Before joining CIFE, she worked with UN Agencies and INGOs as a humanitarian worker responding to the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkey. 

Adnan Ćerimagić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a Senior Analyst for the Western Balkans and is researching EU policy towards the region at a Berlin based think tank European Stability Initiative (ESI). Before joining ESI in August 2013, Adnan has worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo and Brussels. He also did a traineeship in the Secretariat of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and worked for the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC) in Graz. Adnan studied law at the University of Graz and EU international relations and diplomacy at the College of Europe in Bruges. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Institute for Peace in Vienna. 

Đorđo Cvijović is the program assistant at the Local Branch Office of the RYCO in Serbia. Previously has been engaged in the civil sector since 2016, firstly as a volunteer of the European Movement in Serbia and later as Project Assistant at the EMinS and President of the Youth Forum of EMinS. From 2019 to 2021 he was also a member of the organising team of the Belgrade Security Forum, as coordinator of participants. His work was mainly focused on raising awareness of youth in Serbia on the EU in general and the process of European integration, enhancing regional cooperation in the Western Balkans within the EU integration process, as well as establishing institutional support for the civil society in Serbia to promote interculturalism among youth. In the field of interculturalism, he initiated and established, together with representatives of 25 CSOs from Serbia, a non-formal network “United by diversity”, with the aim of strengthening capacities of youth CSOs and CSOs dealing with youth for the empowerment of young people on topics of interculturalism and cultural diversity. Mr Cvijović holds a BA degree in International Relations from the Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade. Currently, he is a master’s student of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science and International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade. From 2018 until 2020 he was engaged as a Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Political Science on subjects of Introduction to Diplomacy and Diplomatic Analysis and Contemporary Diplomacy. He speaks English and Russian languages.

Teodora Lađić holds M.A. in European Studies from the University of Bonn, and the Bachelor and Specialist degree in International Relations from the University of Montenegro, completed as the best student of the generation. She is a holder of multiple national and international awards and scholarships, among which Ms. Lađić was awarded with domestic and international scholarship by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. She is the author of several publications in the areas of democratization, elections, the EU integration process and international affairs. Ms. Lađić has participated in diverse scientific, expert, diplomatic, political and other gatherings, round tables, conferences, seminars, receptions and camps in the country and abroad in various fields (European integration, sustainable development, public administration, reconciliation, economic affairs etc.). She has been involved in the diverse phases of the project management and has created numerous projects that contributed to the regional cooperation, democratization, dialogue, education in the area of European integration and other. She is engaged in the United Nations system in Montenegro and she is a Youth Secretary General in the Presidency of the NGO Montenegrin Pan-European Union, the international network organization of the oldest European unification movement with headquarters in Strasbourg. Ms. Lađić speaks Montenegrin/Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, English and French, and uses Italian and Spanish.

Blazhen Maleski is a Researcher and youth activist from Reactor - Research in Action and active in the youth field for the last nine years, and the youth representative to the Governing Board of RYCO from North Macedonia. During these nine years, he has been the President of the National Youth Council of Macedonia and represented the organization both nationally and internationally. Furthermore, he has participated in a number of events organized within the Berlin Process, by the European Youth Forum, the United Nations ECOSOC, the European Commission and the European Parliament. He has also been an important voice advocating for more and better youth policies in North Macedonia and the region. In the past years, he has been working closely with the youth sector in addressing this need for new and better policies. He was also a youth representative in the working group for the development of the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, which was designed in a unique participatory atmosphere together with representatives from the Parliament of North Macedonia. The work of the working group resulted in the first Law on Youth adopted in January 2020.

Marjola Memaj is a Political Scientist currently doing a Schuman Trainee at the European Parliament. Before joining the Directorate-General for Communication at the European Parliament, she was working as a Communication and Policy Officer for EuroFIR, international Association based in Brussels. Ms.Memaj has a rich experience in managing and coordinating EU projects in the local and regional level, working with topics in: Youth, Education and Regional Cooperation with a special focus in the Western Balkans. She holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science & International Relations from NOVA University, Portugal. Also, she obtained a B.A. at the Faculty of Social Science, Tirana University. As a beneficiary of two Erasmus + programs: JoinEuSEE (Netherlands) and SIGMA (Portugal), from 2016-2019 Marjola, was the co-founder of Western Balkan Regional Alumni Association, where she also held the position of the Albanian national Representative.

Her expertise: EU Enlargement, Youth Development and EU Policy.

Her motto: “Develop a passion for learning and you will never cease to grow”

Frank Morawietz, born in 1960 in Hamburg, lives in Berlin and works as an intercultural trainer and project manager. Since 2000, he has been the regional representative of the French-German Youth Office (FGYO) for South Eastern Europe and has developed and coordinated the implementation of FGYO’s South East Europe Initiative. He regularly conducts intercultural trainings for international enterprises, organizations and municipalities. As a partner and managing director of crossborder factory, a social enterprise, he is especially interested in political questions of the Western Balkans, the European integration process, social entrepreneurship, and the consequences of climate change. Before moving to Berlin, he worked as a project manager for German-French programs at the Gustav Stresemann Institute in Bonn for 10 years. The institute is know as a European Academy for political training in the field of civil societies.  

Françeska Muço is an Albanian civil society activist.  Since an early age, she has been very active and passionate about civil rights and citizens engagement in democratic processes by designing and implementing several projects and advocacy campaigns related to youth and women empowerment and education. Her activities include youth related action plans and legal drafts in Albania. Consequently, she has been a youth representative/board member at the central level, such as in the UN Women Albania Civil Society Advisory Group and the Tirana Youth Municipality Board. Her professional experience is mostly related with projects implementation and fundraising within the European Union programs but also with different donors in Albania. Françeska is active in public debates, through participation as a speaker in conferences, in awareness campaigns, TV shows and interviews. Currently, she holds the position of Secretary General of the Albanian Young Professionals Network, the Youth Representative of Albania in the Governing Board of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) of the Western Balkans and part of the UN Youth Advisory Board.

Adrijana Nikitovic is a Political Science-International Relations student from Belgrade, Serbia. Currently, she is the voice of the youth from Western Balkans through her engagement in WeBalkans project, as a Young European Ambassador. Through her membership in the Youth Forum of the European Movement in Serbia, she advocates for topics such as human rights, education, gender equality, and ecology. In Serbia, she worked on a project of Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development, as a PR team member, to promote dual education, and volunteered on more than twenty sports championships and international tournaments. Her international experience derives from participation in long-term EVS in Croatia, where she used to work for an NGO-Roma National Council, and from many youth exchanges, training courses, and seminars as a part of the Erasmus Plus program. She was an activist of “thistimeImvoting” campaign which is the official campaign of the European Parliament, intending to promote European values and motivate young people to vote, and she continues her activism by joining "together.eu" campaign.

Blina Salihi is a highly motivated and ambitious person, studying Science of Law at the University of Prishtina. Blina recognizes the field of pre-university education and the field of human rights in Kosovo. For 4 years, she has been an activist for changes in Kosovo’s society, mainly in the field of education, human rights and youth participation. Through numerous trainings and sessions on inclusion; integrations; management; communication; critical thinking; participation; reconciliation; peace building and such, from various organizations inside and outside the country as well as through the experience created in different occasions and circumstances, Blina has highly developed the skills on representing and vocaling the voice of youth not only on a national level but also on the international one. Blina is eager to work and expand her knowledge not only on the above mentioned topics but on each and every topic that is important for the society. At the moment, Blina is a project coordinator at Kosovar Youth Council; an organization that is devoted to making the community and environment a place where youth thrives.

Srgjan Vidoeski is an activist and independent researcher from North Macedonia, with many years of experience working on youth projects both as a volunteer and as a project coordinator, on topics including culture, education, civic engagement, and reconciliation. Currently collaborating as an independent researcher with Heinrich-Boell Foundation in Sarajevo on several green topics concerning North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Academic achievements include Master of Arts in Democracy and Human Rights (BIH/Italy), Professional Master in Energy Transition and Governance (France), and current candidate for Master of Science in Wind Power Development (Sweden).