Young People Should Have the Opportunity to Leave, but Also a Reason to Return

Open borders offer young people more opportunities to study, work and gain experience across Europe, but they also raise an important question for Montenegro: how can the country create conditions in which staying, returning and pursuing a professional career at home become genuine options? This was the central theme of the panel discussion “How to Retain Talent: Montenegro and the Challenge of European Mobility”, organised in Bijelo Polje by the Ministry of European Affairs, with the support of the European Union through the EU4ME project, in cooperation with the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) in Montenegro.

Maida Gorčević, Minister of European Affairs, emphasised that European integration opens up more opportunities for young people to study, work and gain experience, while stressing that it is equally important to ensure that they have the conditions to stay, return and develop their careers in Montenegro.

“Mobility should be a freedom of choice. We want young people to leave to gain knowledge, experience and take on new challenges, not because they have to. At the same time, our task is to create conditions in which returning, professional development and a good quality of life in Montenegro are genuine possibilities. We do not want young people to have to choose between Montenegro and Europe. We want Montenegro to become a place where they can fulfil their European ambitions,” Gorčević said.

Marjan Šarec, Member of the European Parliament and the European Parliament’s standing rapporteur for Montenegro, reflected on the experiences of Slovenia and other EU Member States, highlighting the value of the knowledge and experience young people acquire abroad.

“Slovenia’s experience shows that the people who have seen how things work elsewhere are often the ones who drive change back home, in companies, universities and public administration. But for this to happen, the state must maintain ties with them and engage with the diaspora, while the community must welcome those who return as a success, not a failure. Young people who leave show just how much they can bring back. It is up to us to open the doors for them,” Šarec noted.

Speaking about the reasons why young people leave, Damir Gutić, Minister of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography, stressed that addressing demographic challenges requires a comprehensive approach that brings together economic development, employment, housing, education and support for families, particularly in northern Montenegro.

“We cannot expect young people to stay simply because they love their country – we must offer them real opportunities to work, progress, start families and build their future here. Our goal is for young people to be part of Europe while Montenegro remains their choice as a place to live,” Gutić said.

At the second panel, “The EU Is Coming – Will Young People Stay?”, Radivoje Drobnjak from the Science and Technology Park of Montenegro highlighted the considerable entrepreneurial and creative potential of young people in Montenegro, which should be systematically nurtured from the earliest stages of education.

“It is good for young people to have the opportunity to travel from an early age and complete part of their secondary or university education in an EU Member State or elsewhere in the world. However, I am confident that these experiences will bring them back to Montenegro, where they will be able to make better use of the knowledge, experience and skills they have acquired abroad,” Drobnjak said.

Aleksandra Simoni, a master’s student at the Faculty of Political Science and an entrepreneur, encouraged young people to take part in policymaking.

“I would like young people to be active, get involved and raise their voices, because sooner or later, someone will have to listen to them,” Simoni said.

Katarina Vukadinović, a youth worker at the Youth Office of the Municipality of Budva, encouraged young people to take advantage of the opportunities available to them, particularly those that will come with Montenegro’s accession to the European Union.

“If young people leave, we should not view this as a fatal decision or assume that they are leaving forever. They remain a resource for us, even when they are abroad, especially given the opportunities for online engagement and digital cooperation. What matters is that we, as a country, foster a sense of belonging so that they never forget their roots,” Vukadinović said.

The event was organised as part of the “Let’s Talk Openly About the EU” campaign, implemented by the Ministry of European Affairs through the EU4ME project. The campaign aims to address questions, expectations and concerns related to Montenegro’s future EU membership through direct dialogue with citizens.

The panellists were joined in discussion by Edin Koljenović, Head of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) in Montenegro, and Bojana Lalatović, representative of RYCO Montenegro.