From May 10th until May 19th 50 graduate students from Harvard visited the Western Balkans as participants of the Balkan Trek program. For the second time, students from eight different Harvard graduate schools and 18 different nationalities have visited Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania. The focus of the trip was on gaining a deeper understanding of the current political and economic landscape with a clear focus on people, programs, and initiatives that are building a better future for the entire region. As part of the Balkan Trek, participants had an opportunity of meeting one Prime Minister, one President of the Parliament and 7 different ministers during their visit as well as business leaders, cultural landmarks, hubs for start-ups and creative industries around the region and projects on AI and biotech.

As part of the 9-day journey throughout the region, the Open Society Foundation has supported the endeavor by enabling students to meet their local counterparts in Serbia and Albania at the River Cruise at Sava and Danube in Belgrade and at the Tirana Meet & Greet cocktail in Albania`s capital city. These events were formulated to provide the opportunity for some of the finest young professionals in these countries to meet and build relationships with their counterparts from Harvard. Such encounters enable individuals from the Western Balkans to build connections and relationships throughout the world, opening many possibilities for future cooperation and exchange of ideas.

We are delighted to have been able to support the arrival of Harvard students to the Western Balkans and are glad that the Balkan Trek is turning into a tradition. We firmly believe that the youth of the Western Balkans should experience greater cooperation, exchange of ideas and views with individuals from the entire world for the betterment of themselves and the region as a whole.