Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Ms Donika Gërvalla,
Honourable Blerim Gashani, Minister of Sports and Youth,
Honourable Ms Saranda Bogujevci, Minister of Culture and Tourism,
Honourable Mr Elbert Krasniqi, Minister of Local Government Administration,
Honourable Ms Fitore Pacolli-Dalipi, Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning,
Honourable Head of the UNICEF Office, Veronika Vashchenko,
Dear young women and men,
Distinguished colleagues from other state institutions, from the executive and legislative branches,
It is a pleasure to meet here on the occasion of August 12, International Youth Day, which, in our country, practically means the day of approximately 40% of the population. Beyond being a figure, this demonstrates that young women and men are society itself in our Republic.
While this activity marking International Youth Day is being held under the slogan “Young People’s Voice at the Centre”, as the Government of the Republic, through our government policies, various programmes, measures and diverse actions, as well as reforms in general, we have demonstrated that we want young women and men, girls and boys, precisely at the center.
This means creating better opportunities, starting from early youth, in schools, through the development of the dual education system as a means of career orientation, by establishing a link between vocational training and the labour market.
This is followed by free higher education, from which tens of thousands of students have benefited, in addition to support through more than 18,000 scholarships worth between €1,000 and €10,000 from 2021 through 2026. Let us also not forget the increase in the value of the scholarship, from €700 previously to €1,000 today.
This support includes around 7,300 scholarships in STEM fields—Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics—and nearly 9,700 merit-based scholarships for students with a grade point average above 9. There are also nearly 250 scholarships, worth between €7,500 and €8,500, for doctoral students at the world’s top 500 universities.
We have also funded nearly 700 of our bachelor’s and master’s students who have studied or are studying in the United States, France, Japan, Hungary and other countries. Likewise, nearly 170 scholarships have been awarded for studies abroad, with a maximum support value of up to €7,000. Meanwhile, in the 2025–2026 academic year, we also launched support for postdoctoral studies, supporting eight candidates, six women and two men.
Under our government, we have also allocated around 2,000 scholarships for pupils from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, with a total value of approximately €625,000, as well as 170 scholarships for students from these communities, worth €1,000 each (92 boys and 23 girls). This represents a threefold increase in support compared with all previous governments combined.
Thus, equal access and quality education for our youth are the guiding principles of governance in the Republic.
Beyond this, we have also offered programmes, as well as concrete measures and actions, to link young people with the labour market and establish contact with potential long-term employers.
More than 23,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 29 have been employed through the Government’s SuperPuna (SuperJob) platform, which guarantees the minimum wage from the state for six months. Of these, 51% are girls and 49% boys, while 10,500 businesses have benefited from the platform by employing these young people.
Our young women and men, who are well educated and, the vast majority of whom—including many of you here—speak at least one foreign language fluently, naturally represent tremendous potential. This potential has already begun to materialize, particularly in the services export and information and communications technology sectors, where tens of thousands of young women and men are already employed. Naturally, however, it can be capitalized on even further.
More than mere figures, these are evidence of a governing approach which sees young people not only as inevitably being the future, but also as the present, given that they constitute a large and valuable part of our society. In other words, we do not make promises to young people; we make commitments to them and deliver for them here and now.
We are also working for our young women and men in the fields of culture and sport, by increasing activities and spaces. But perhaps particularly in the area of sport, the Minister of Sports and Youth, Blerim Gashani, can speak much more and much better about this.
Therefore, young people, happy Youth Day to you. And do not hesitate to communicate with us, because we are here for you—for the young women and men of the Republic of Kosovo, without distinction.
Happy Youth Day, and thank you!