Most of EU member states, some of the Western Balkan partners, the Regional Cooperation Council and the European Commission have pledged scholarships for the students of the new Tirana campus of College of Europe today. The pledges were marked at an event which took place in the margins of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels.
The initiative to create the Tirana Campus of the College of Europe was launched during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana in December 2022.
“The future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union. The establishment of the College of Europe’s presence in Tirana demonstrates this objective and underscores the firm belief in education’s transformative, integrative and reconciliatory potential.”
Charles Michel, President of the European Council
The premises were inaugurated on 16 October 2023 in Tirana, and applications for the pilot academic year 2024/25 were launched. This is the first expansion of the College since the Natolin Campus was established in Poland in 1992.
“Today you invest in the generation that will make the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU a reality. We commit to providing them the excellence of knowledge, skills and network that will empower them to achieve it. I am sure your pledges today are testimony to your political commitment of tomorrow. To make it happen.”
Federica Mogherini, Rector of the College of Europe
The first generation will have around 30 students, from the Western Balkans and the EU but also beyond, with the number expected to grow in the coming years.
/Argumentum.al
