European Young Leaders

Selection process for the Balkan class is now open

Friends of Europe is looking for outstanding candidates to join our Balkan European Young Leaders Class of 2020. Building on our successful European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme, we are expanding by selecting six Young Leaders from the Western Balkan region. These six Balkan Young Leaders will be invited to take part in all activities organised within our EYL40 programme.

We are looking for candidates who

• Are between 30 and 40 years of age (born on or after 1 January 1980);
• Have proven track records as established thought leaders in their fields of activity;
• Reached, or are on track to reaching, the highest ranks of their field of expertise;
• Candidates must be a national of 1 of the 6 Balkan states currently involved in enlargement negotiations (Serbia, Kosovo*, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro);
• Candidates are required to be fluent in English, the programme’s working language.

Current and previous European Young Leaders include

• Eneko Atxa, Chef at three-Michelin-starred restaurant Azurmendi, Spain
• Danka Barteková, Olympic Bronze Medallist, Slovakia
• Clément Beaune, Europe and G20 Advisor to President Emmanuel Macron, France
• John Collison, President & Co-Founder of Stripe, Ireland
• Alexandra Dariescu, Concert Pianist and Producer of ‘The Nutcracker and I’, Romania
• Carole Dieschbourg, Minister of the Environment, Luxembourg
• Selina Juul, Founder and Chairman of the Stop Wasting Food movement, Denmark
• Kaja Kallas, Leader of the liberal Reform party, Estonia
• Magid Magid, Member of the European Parliament, United Kingdom
• Frédéric Mazzella, CEO and Founder of BlablaCar, France
• Souad Mekhennet, Correspondent for the Washington Post, Germany
• Bastian Obermayer, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and recipient of the ‘Panama Papers’, Germany
• Marko Pavic, Minister for Labour and the Pension System, Croatia
• Jens Spahn, Minister for Health, Germany

Application process

For nominations:
Please send the full name, date of birth and all contact details of the candidate that you wish to nominate. Please include a short biography of their professional background and achievements, as well as a letter explaining why you believe that they are a suitable candidate for the programme.

For personal applications:
Please send your CV (including date of birth and full contact details), together with a cover letter explaining why you believe that you should be considered for the programme.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 11 October 2019
All submissions should be sent directly to eyl40@friendsofeurope.org

* For the United Nations Development Programme, references to Kosovo in this document accordingly shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
For the European Union, this designation used is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UN Security Council resolution 1244/99 and the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

The deadline for the selection process of the “regular” EYL40 class of 2020 has passed.