Forum: Youth Perspectives on Local Development

Alongside the Youth Forum, premier edition of Music Freedom Festival was opened as well. The forum was organized by FES Skopje, in cooperation with the Municipality of Kocani, in order to develop a dynamic discussion within which young people from Kochani and beyond were enabled to discuss effective local development through elaborating opportunities for youth and ways to advance their socio-economic position. In addition, they had the opportunity to share and discuss their ideas and perspectives with the mayor of the Municipality of Kochani, Nikolcho Ilijev, as well as experts in youth policies at national and regional level.

The young individuals living in Kochani pointed out that in order to create opportunities that will guarantee a secure future in the place of residence, Macedonia's access to the European Union must be guaranteed above all. That way, the youth initiatives and the current efforts of the local institutions for their realization will contribute to the promotion of the living standard of young people at a local level. Nikolcho Ilijev, the mayor of Kochani, pointed out that the application of European values ​​will strongly influence the improvement of the opportunities that young people experience in their local surroundings. According to him, young people are loud when it comes to the accession of Macedonia to the European Union. A membership in the Union will create opportunities for young people in Kochani not only in terms of education and employment, but also in terms of cultural and social life, as well as in the development of democratic processes at a local level. The road is long and difficult, but it is indisputable.