EU-Balkan Youth Forum Guests
H.E. Ms. Tanja MIŠČEVIĆ – Minister of European Integration of Serbia
Born in 1966 in Zemun, where she completed her primary and secondary school education.
Miscevic is a full professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade at the Department of International and European Studies. She graduated from the Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade in 1989, received her master’s degree in 1997, and obtained her PhD in political science in 2002 at the same Faculty.
She taught as a visiting professor at universities in the region, as well as at the Center for European Integration Studies of the University of Bonn, Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Rome III, Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Zagreb and the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Ljubljana.
She taught as a guest professor at the Military Academy of the Serbian Armed Forces, at the Advanced Security and Defence Studies of the Ministry of Defence and at the Police Academy and led the International Organizations module at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.
She is the author of two books and a large number of scientific monographs and articles in the field of theory and practice of functioning of international governmental organisations, EU enlargement policy, Stabilization and Association Process, as well as relations between Serbia and the European Union.
In the period from 2005 to 2008, she was the Director of the Serbian government’s Office for European Integration and a member of Serbia’s negotiating team for the conclusion of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU. During 2007, she led the negotiation team of the Republic of Serbia in negotiations on the conclusion of the Visa Facilitation Agreement and the Readmission Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the European Union.
She was the Vice President of the Anti-Corruption Agency from 2009 to 2011. In the period from 2010 to 2012, she was the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
The Serbian government appointed Miscevic as the Head of the Team for Negotiations on the Membership of the Republic of Serbia with the European Union in August 2013 and she held this position until August 2019. From November 2019, she was the Deputy Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council.
She is the recipient of the “Contribution of the Year to Europe” award, the Rainbow Award and the Knight of the Order of Merit of the French Republic.
She speaks English and Russian.
Ms. Ivana ANTONIJEVIĆ – Assistant Minister for Youth
Ms. Ivana Antonijevic graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences in 2014. She emerged as a passionate advocate for youth engagement and inclusive politics during her student days. Her commitment to fostering international cooperation and reconciliation among young people in the Western Balkans has been unwavering over the past four years while she served in RYCO. In January 2023, Ms. Antonijevic assumed the role of Assistant Minister of Tourism and Youth, where she currently oversees the youth sector. In this capacity, she continues to champion the potential of the youth demographic, emphasizing the importance of intercultural cooperation, societal inclusiveness, and the provision of equal opportunities.
Ms. Cristina Caputo – Deputy Head of Unit for the Adriatic and the Balkans
Cristina Caputo joined the Italian diplomatic career in 2010. At the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, she is currently Deputy Head of Unit for the Adriatic and the Balkans, responsible also for the regional cooperation. She has served abroad at the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv (2014-2017), and at the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels (2017-2021). After the service abroad, she was Diplomatic Counsellor of the Italian Secretary of State for European Policy and Affairs. She graduated in Political Science at the University of Palermo. She has worked in the field of development cooperation in Lebanon, in Yemen and in Tunisia.
H.E. Mr. Luca Gori – Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Serbia
Luca Gori was born in Florence on 27 July 1968, he graduated in political science from the University of Florence in 1993, while he began his diplomatic career in 1995.
After a period spent in the Directorate General for Political Affairs of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1999 he began his first engagement abroad at the Italian Embassy in Moscow. In 2003, he joined the Permanent Representation of Italy to the European Union in Brussels, where he monitored relations between the EU and the Western Balkans.
In 2007, he returned to Rome where he worked in the Minister’s Office. In 2010, he became the First Counselor at the Italian Embassy in Washington.
In 2014, upon his return to Rome, he was assigned to the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, to the Office for Diplomatic Affairs.
In 2015, he took over the service in the cabinet of the Minister again. In the same year, he became the holder of the Order of the Knights of Merit of the Republic of Italy.
In 2018, he will become Deputy Director General for Political and Security Affairs / Director for the Mediterranean and Middle East countries. In 2021, he became Deputy Chief of Staff.
Ambassador Gori has a passion for writing, reading, art, film, travel and sports, especially football, basketball and tennis.
He is the author of various essays on foreign policy and issues of international relations.
Luca Gori is married to Eugenia and has two children: a daughter Beatrice and a son Alessandro.
Ms. Pilvi TORSTI – Director of the European Training Foundation
She is the Director of the European Training Foundation (ETF). Since the 1990s, she has served in leadership and expert roles in the fields of education, learning, research, science, innovation, and public policy, both in Finland and globally. Her career includes work in the public sector, founding the early education startup HEI Schools in 2015, and co-founding the United World College in Mostar in 2006. She is a specialist on the former Yugoslavia region and has lived overseas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, and Nepal.
In addition to her focus on education, she has been involved in a broad range of issues during her tenure as a Member of the Parliament and State Secretary of three ministries in Finland. These issues span employment, communication and network policy (including 5G), AI, digitalization, data politics, immigration, culture, and strategic planning of transport and climate policies. She is a United World Colleges (UWC) graduate from 1995 and an Eisenhower Fellow from 2013.
Amer KAPETANOVIĆ – Political Director with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)
Amer Kapetanovic has been working as a carrier diplomat for more than two decades. He is currently serving as the Political Director with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), inter-governmental organization based in Sarajevo. Kapetanovic was working as carrier diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina in different senior ranks. His diplomatic career preceded by number of years in journalism where he had worked as reporter, editor and columnist in leading domestic printed and electronic media. He has also served as the as the President of Trustees of the BH Film Fund (2011/2014), helping BH Film industry getting closer to the EU funds, thus paving the way for membership in specially designed EU programs such are Creative Europe/Media. He was one of the founding members of the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) BH foreign policy think tank based in Sarajevo. Kapetanovic, who graduated political science at the University of Sarajevo, is author and co-author of dozens of publications, books and researches.
Andrea HOCHHUBER – Head of the European Integration and Economic Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia
Andrea Hochhuber has been working as Head of the European Integration and Economic Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia since September 2020. She also covers trade matters and regional economic cooperation.
Prior to her assignment in Belgrade she led a team in the European Commission’s Support Group for Ukraine facilitating structural reforms in Ukraine. During her career in the European Commission in the field of external relations she also dealt with Civilian Crisis Management Missions of the European Union, trade defence matters and was posted to two other European Union Delegations.
EU-Balkan Youth Forum Moderator and Panelists Day 1
Moderator: Chiara Maria MURGIA
Chiara Maria Murgia recently earned a MA in Human Rights and Democracy in South-Eastern Europe from the University of Sarajevo and Bologna. Currently based in BiH, she is a trainee at the Political Department of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), where she coordinates the EU-Balkan Forum 2023. Since 2020, she has been an active member of AICEM, an Italian youth association committed to youth empowerment and human rights education. She previously worked as a project assistant at the Institute of Danube Region in Vienna. Chiara served as Italian delegate at the first EUBYF in Rome and presented its outcomes to CoFE Italy’s Etates General in 2022. Passionate about European integration and youth involvement in decision-making processes, Chiara engages across institutional, academic, and civil society fora. In October 2023, her MA thesis on Youth Participation in the EU Enlargement of the Western Balkans earned the Global Campus of Human Rights Award and is currently in the process of publication.
Panelist: Milena STOŠIĆ
Panelist: Maša VRAČAR
MA candidate in International Relations and Vice-President of the Governing Board of the National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS). Particularly focused on international and regional cooperation and the development of active participation mechanisms. Member of the Expert Group on EU Youth Dialogue in Serbia and the UN Youth Advisory Group in Serbia. Participant of the previous cycles of the Western Balkans Youth Lab.
Panelist: Marko RADOVANOVIĆ
Marko Radovanović is a Political Advisor at the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) primarily dealing with political, economic and security cooperation in South East Europe. Prior to this, he served 12 years as a diplomat of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His last posting was as Counsellor at the Mission of Bosnia and Herzgovina to the European Union in Brussels. He graduated economics from the University of Economics in Prague (VŠE) and earned his MA on International Relations at the Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL).
Panelist: Dmitriy CHURIN
Dmitriy Churin is a filmmaker and youth activist whose work focuses on peacebuilding and regional integration of the Western Balkans. Being a Young European Ambassador (YEA) in Montenegro, Dmitriy leads several educational and cultural initiatives — such as media literacy workshops and a network of film clubs called “New Take” — which aim to promote intercultural understanding and cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans.
Panelist: Selina ÇOMO
Selina Çomo is a 22-year-old Law Student, studying at the Faculty of Law, University of Tirana. Besides her studies, she has been engaged with the civil society for over 3 years, and she is the Albanian Youth Delegate to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in the Council of Europe and a member of the Youth Advisory Group of the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Youth Regional Network, part of Assembly of the European Regions. Her main areas of interest include international relations, EU Law and the Enlargement Process of the European Union.
EU-Balkan Youth Forum Moderator and Panelists Day 2
Moderator: Serena EPIS
Serena Epis is a researcher and project assistant at OBC Transeuropa. She holds a Master’s degree in European and International Studies from the University of Trento and is an alumna of the TALETE – Talenti e Territori programme co-promoted by the University of Trento and the Centre for International Cooperation. Since 2021 she has been working at OBC Transeuropa on projects dedicated to European enlargement, civil society engagement, and the protection of press freedom in the EU and candidate countries.
Panelist: Zorica KORAĆ
Zorica Korac has been working in the field of environmental protection for the past 17 years. She implemented environmental projects throughout Serbia and Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova). For the last five years she managed UNDP’s Environmental Portfolio including projects in the field of nature protection and depollution with focus on air quality (under the Green Agenda initiative), as well as adaptation to climate change. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Belgrade University, and Master’s of Science degree in Environmental Sciences and Policies from Central European University, Budapest.
Panelist: Roberta BOSU
Roberta Bosu is a strategist and creative professional with a diverse background spanning the private sector, development, and NGOs. Her extensive experience encompasses sustainable development, advocacy, and communication. As the founder of Re.vert Studio, an impact-driven firm with a unique emphasis on climate communication, she brings innovation and purpose to her work. Currently serving as the Head of Climate Communication for AimHiEarth, Roberta also holds the esteemed position of European Climate Pact ambassador for the European Commission.
Panelist: Arta QERIMI
Arta Qerimi is a programme youth coordinator and communications associate at Go Green – Skopje, specifically working on communication strategies and plans for raising awareness and project management for local green policies.
Panelist: Eva CVETKOVSKA
I am a Master of International Law and Relations, and the law of the EU, and a committed youth activist and a leader in student organizations. My leadership journey includes serving as President of both my university’s Student Assembly and the National Student Assembly. Passionate about progressing youth futures in my region and fostering integration with the European Union, I am equally dedicated to environmental protection and addressing climate change. My ambition is to empower young people and advocate for sustainable practices, aligning with European values and global environmental goals.
EU-Balkan Youth Forum Moderator and Panelists Day 3
Moderator: Anja JOKIĆ
Anja has been part of the youth sector for over seven years, working to improve the cooperation and position of young people in Serbia and the Western Balkans. She holds a BA in International Relations and an MA in Peace Studies. Currently, she is a Master’s Candidate in EU Law.
Anja is an active alumna of the OSCE Dialogue Academy Alumnae Network and a recipient of a Peace and Security Scholarship awarded by the OSCE and UN Disarmament Affairs Office. In 2024-2025, she will be part of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Council on Youth.
From 2021 to 2023 as a Co-Chair of the Youth Policy Lab, she worked with other young people and government representatives to improve systematic support and tackle issues affecting the mental health of young people.
Panelist: Franceska MUÇO
Françeska Muço is an Albanian civil society activist focused on youth and women’s empowerment, civic engagement, democracy, the Western Balkans, and EU enlargement. She has undergraduate and master’s degrees related to public administration, policies, project management, and communications, including a Chevening scholarship. As a youth representative, she has served on advisory boards for organizations including UN Women Albania, the UN Youth Advisory Board, and the Regional Youth Cooperation Office. Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Albanian Young Professionals Network and member of the Global Diplomacy Lab.
Panelist: Ognjen MARKOVIĆ
Ognjen Markovic is Team Leader of the Western Balkans Youth Lab Project, which is a four-year EU funded and RCC implemented project that kicked-off in January 2020, aiming to provide opportunities for youth to participate in decision-making. Project covers Western Balkans and seeks to strengthen formal and informal mechanisms of youth participation by increasing mobilization of youth in policy making and increasing co-creation of relevant policies with youth. Before leading the project, Ognjen has been working as the Youth Policy Expert in RCC for 2 years and 5years in prominent think-tank organization in Montenegro in field of EU accession process, rule of law and youth participation. During his Bachelor and Post-graduate studies at the Faculty of Political Science, Ognjen was gaining practical skills within international organizations, embassies and civil society organizations, while being exchange student at universities in Italy, Slovenia, Poland and Azerbaijan.
Panelist: Sajmira KOPANI
Sajmira Kopani is the Technical Officer for Youth Employment Programmes at the International Labour Organization office for Central and Eastern Europe. Her work is focused on the preparation and implementation of the youth guarantees in the Western Balkan-6 region and includes employment promotion programs, youth entrepreneurship, and rights at work for youth.
Previously, she worked as legal advisor at the European Movement Albania and assistant professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Tirana. Sajmira has MAs in Law from the University of Tirana and from ELTE University in Budapest and has recently been admitted as PhD candidate to the National University of Public Service, Hungary. Her research interest is the impact of digitalization on employment relationships.
Panelist: Jan-Peter Ganter DE OTERO
Jan Otero is a professional with relevant expertise in human capital development, currently serving as an expert at the European Training Foundation for the past three years. Holding a master’s degree in education and a PhD in international education from the University of Osnabrueck, Germany, Jan specializes in innovation and skills development. With a rich background, Jan previously contributed to UNESCO-UNEVOC and served as a project manager at SENAC, the national commercial apprenticeship service in Brazil. Jan’s diverse experience underscores a commitment to advancing education and fostering innovative approaches to skills enhancement on both national and international scales.
Panelist: Filip RADOJEVIĆ
Born in Belgrade in 1998, I obtained a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Engaged in diverse projects in animation and visual effects, I’m also dedicated to promoting digital arts to a younger audience. Currently pursuing studies in animation and masters studies in digital transformation of media and culture at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade.
Panelist: Besnik AVDIAJ
Besnik is a dedicated advocate for youth in Kosovo* since 2012, actively leads projects fostering personal and professional growth. As a participant in the EU-Balkan Youth Forum 2021, he initiated the impactful “Peace starts with YOUth” project with his peers. Being an organizational and human development specialist, he co-founded the digital marketing startup, OBOTI LLC, and consults for multiple companies. He is currently pursuing a PhD in entrepreneurship, with a focus on startups. Besnik remains a beacon of inspiration for aspiring changemakers in Kosovo* and beyond.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
