The laureates of the online essay competition “The young people from SEE for the prosperity in the region” were awarded in the plenary hall of the National Assembly. The diplomas of the winners were presented by the President of the Parliament and President of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Tsetska Tsacheva. Present at the ceremony were the speakers of parliaments of Slovenia Milan Brglez, of Macedonia Trajko Veljanovski and of Kosovo Kadri Veseli.
First prize was awarded to Alexandra – Bianca Popescu from Romania for the essay “What choice do the young people from South Eastern Europe have?” Second award was presented to Alisa Chyornaya from Moldova for the essay “Active citizenship and freedom of speech – the choice of young people from South Eastern Europe”. Third were ranked two participants in the competition from Slovenia – Nika Kobetic and Peter Suhodolcan.

The prize for the winner is a three-day visit to Brussels and meetings with European deputies and representatives of European institutions dealing with youth policies. A laptop was presented to the second ranked participant and the participants awarded third place received tablets.
With today’s event we mark the 20th anniversary of SEECP and it seems to be symbolic that our young laureates are nearly the same age as the origination of the regional Process, noted the President of the National Assembly. They are the people whose voice we should hear, because we rely on them to take over what we have built and that they will do what we have not done, added Tsetska Tsacheva. She welcomed all the 45 participants in the competition from 9 participating countries in SEECP –Turkey, Romania, Moldova, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece for the interest shown in the topic. The President of the Parliament thanked the authoritative seven-member jury of representatives of the parliaments of Bulgaria, Monte Negro, Kosovo, Albania, Romania, Turkey and Macedonia.

For us, as politicians responsible for meeting the expectations of the SEE citizens, it is very helpful to hear what is exciting for young people and how they see integration processes in our region, noted the President of the National Assembly.

The competition which focused on young people aged up to 29 was announced on the website of the Regional Secretariat for SEE Parliamentary Cooperation and on the websites of the parliaments from SEECP on 1 December 2015. The assessment procedure was conducted online and every participant had the right to submit only one essay written in English. The essays were assessed anonymously, without the jury being able to see the names and details of the participants.

At the award ceremony in the plenary hall present were also delegations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Croatia and Monte Negro, representatives of international organizations. They are in Bulgaria to take part in the plenary session on 11 June of the Parliamentary Assembly of the South East European Cooperation Process “20 Years SEECP – New Realities and Shared Perspectives”.