09Jul
A vision for rural Europe
Harnessing the potential of rural areas to contribute to a sustainable & prosperous Europe
The Agricultural and Rural Convention, ARC2020 mobilized a panel with civil society organizations and rural movements, who introduced an open discussion with citizens participating via videoconference, followed by an exchange of views between the presidents of the Committees for Agriculture and for the Environment of the European Parliament.
This overall event “A vision for rural Europe – Harnessing the potential of rural areas to contribute to a sustainable and prosperous Europe” was organized by the President of the Renew Europe Group, Dacian Ciolos and was held on 7 July, 14.30 – 17.00 Cest.
Petar Gjorgievski, was also featuring this discussion to share the views of the CSOs working on rural development in Western Balkan, under the umbrella of the Balkan Rural Development Network. He was speaking of the potentials of the Western Balkan rural areas, the existing gap between rural and urban areas, as well as the needs for investing in the development of the rural areas.
“The rural development process of the Western Balkan is one of the major driving processes that can really accelerate the EU accession process of the Western Balkans. However, to achieve this we need to invest in strengthening of mutual trust on every level, among people, institutions, at national level, but also there is a big investment need for impowering the trust among the Western Balkan and the European Union and to build important equal partnership. Of course that we are aware that somehow the Western Balkans have this negative image from the past, but such a perception of constant mistrust creates a deadlock in the EU integration processes and also negatively affects to the development of the rural areas. So, we want to change this perception into a positive perception that the Western Balkans have specific values that bring us closer than divide us, and these values can only enrich the values of the EU.” said Petar Gjorgievski in his address.