Media Partnership - The Gen Z Kitchen Festival: What’s Cooking in the Western Balkans
04-03-2026
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Across the Western Balkans, a generation that believes in democracy, values elections, and still sees Europe as part of its future, is no longer granting trust by default. Support remains broad, but consent has become conditional, performance-based, and revocable. This quiet shift, not apathy, is the central challenge for democratic legitimacy and EU integration in the region.
To understand this moment, Open Society Foundation Western Balkans commissioned the first region-wide Gen Z survey of its kind: 6,000 young people aged 16–28 across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Lead by a small team and six national survey centres, the study explores how Gen Z relates to politics, and what it expects in return.
Gen Z in the Western Balkans seem informed, willing to vote, can be mobilised on issues that matter through non-traditional media and protest. Hope and distrust seem to coexist. They seem to not be rejecting democracy. They are withholding consent and putting democracy to the test. Today, they are testing national governments. Tomorrow, they may be testing Europe itself?
Join the Gen Z Kitchen Festival on 4 March for conversations on what is shaping political engagement in the Western Balkans. The event brings together young people and activists from the region with politicians, political scientists, and EU policymakers to exchange perspectives on the future of democracy.
Organiser: Open Society Foundations Western Balkans
Media Partner: Euractiv
Location
La Bellone
Rue de Flandre 46
Panellists
Lukas Sieper, MEP
Lena Schilling , MEP
Ivan Krastev, Award winning author and renowned political scientist
Andi Dobrushi, Director, Open Society Foundations Western Balkans
Julius E. O. Fintelmann, Editor in Chief, The European Correspondent
Lura Pollozhani, Researcher, University of Graz
Milosh Ristovski, Secretary General of the European Youth Forum
Sevim Aktas, Policy Assistant for Commissioner Micallef, DG for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, European Commission
Moderator
Anastasija Dorda Bosancic
Nazim Rashidi
Jeta Bejtullahu
Schedule
9:30 - 10:00 Registration of participants
10:00 - 10:15 The Gen Z Pulse
On the sofa with Andi Dobrushi, Director of Open Society Foundations Western Balkans, on why measuring the pulse of Gen Z is important at this moment in time.
In conversation with Gen Z Gen activist Anastasija Dorda Bosancic
10:15 - 10:45 In the Hot Pot: Gen Z vs. the MEP
On the sofa, Gen Z student from Serbia Dorotea Vasic and MEP Lukas Sieper interview each other about Gen Z representation in politics.
10:45 - 11:45 Gen Z Broth: What s Cooking in the Western Balkans?
On the sofa:
° Lura Pollozhani, Lead researcher at the University of Graz, unpicks the findings from the report about Gen Z views on politics and the future of democracy.
° Julius E. O. Fintelmann, Editor-in-Chief of The European Correspondent, comments on the findings of the report and the risks of losing the Gen Z in the Western Balkans.
° Milosh Ristovski, Secretary General of the European Youth Forum, responds to the findings and what it takes to bring Gen Z voices to the decision-makers in Brussels.
° Sevim Aktas, Policy Assistant for Commissioner Micallef, DG for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, European Commission (TBC)
In conversation with journalist and activist Nazim Rashidi
11:45 - 12:00 Coffee Break
12:00 - 12:30 Consent à la Carte: Gen Z and the Future of Democracy
On the sofa with award-winning author and renowned political scientist Ivan Krastev’s sharp analysis on why Western Balkans Gen Z should be Europe’s political early-warning system.
In conversation with narrative strategist Jeta Bejtullahu
12:30 - 13:30 Networking Lunch
13:30 - 14:00 In the Hot Pot: Gen Z vs. the MEP
On the sofa, Gen Z student from Kosovo Nol Musa with MEP Lena Schilling, Greens/European Free Alliance, on how Gen Z voices will inform their narrative on enlargement in the Western Balkans.
14:00 - 16:00 Theatrical Tiramisu: Our Son (TBD)
19:00 - 21:00 Networking Event at The Nine (Rue Archimède 69)
After the festival, join us for drinks and hors d’oeuvres to continue the conversation with speakers and participants in a relaxed setting at the private club The Nine.
Contact
Laurine Augere
Laurine.Augere@euractiv.com
+32 2 226 58 11