The article Young people in southeastern Europe need jobs, published on Deutsche Welle broacasting service’s website, reports about a Catholic charity Renovabis efforts’ to draw attention to the lack of perspectives for young people in southern and eastern Europe.

Pero Sudar, the Franciscan auxiliary bishop of Sarajevo, emphasizes that some 70 percent of Bosnian youth wish to emigrate, and that the situation is similar in other Western Balkan counties. Youth unemployment, as he adds, is at staggering 45 to 60 percent in the Western Balkans, depending on the country; if one takes into the equation the poverty, corruption, political instability etc., it is no wonder that young people are rapidly losing the faith in democracy and democratic institutions.

Bishop Sudar also criticized the “lack of connections between the educational system and the job market.” The problem, in his view, is poor and slow implementation of the Bologna Process, and the fact that many stages of education existed with absolutely no relation to one another. That is why – according to the latest polls – almost 80 percent of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not believe that their lives will be improved by a solid university degree. Similar impressions have been recorded in other Balkan countries.

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