WeBalkans Podcast

This episode of our podcast is being hosted by our YEA Iva Korović and her guest is Brana Antović. 

Iva is a student of International relations at the faculty of Political Science in Podgorica. She is a double time cancer survivor and child cancer awareness advocate. Her goal is to encourage any motivated young person to start learning languages, step foot into non formal education and broaden their knowledge with international experience, not only encourage them, but also aid them towards that goal. 

Branislava Antovic is an entrepreneur working in the online media industry. Skilled in Storytelling, News Writing, Editing, Journalism, Blogging, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship. She graduated from the Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade. She is a founder and Editor-in-Chief of her blog,, Brana’s Divine World” which started out as a fashion blog, continued as a lifestyle blog, and evolved into an activist blog that addresses important issues such as feminism, social (in)justice, art, culture etc.
Brana is also a journalist for Danas.rs
She wrote many articles for this journal, a few of them being:
’Borba za goli život”, or in English, “Fight for bare life’’, that talks about the legal fight for organ transplantation rights and organ donation rights in Serbia’s justice system.
‘’Tek smo počele”, ‘’We have just begun’’ is an incredible article that talks about fighting for women’s rights in the Balkans as well as online activism, especially online feminist activism and #nisamprijavila movement.
Through her Instagram page, which has a following of 58.4 thousand people, Branislava acts as an activist influencer.

This episode of Coffee with YEA is a very special one, since it is the first one that is done in person. It is hosted by our fellow YEA Aleksandar Ljubomirović, who hosted a famous musician Goran Bregović, during the Balkan Trafik Festival in Brussels.

YEA is proud to present an artist from the Western Balkans who can be described in his own words, reflecting the true values of the Young European Ambassadors:

"I grew up in a neighbourhood in Sarajevo where time was measured by the bells of the catholic church nearby, by those of the orthodox church and by the muezzin’s prayer invocations. Since then all my life and all my music have been marked by the wealth of these different chants. My wish is that this privilege be a natural right for all children. May these three letters be my invocation for peace, and may it be heard."

Goran Bregović

Very few musicians have managed to develop an art of such amplitude that coherently mixes such a great variety of styles and techniques without losing its identity. A Bregović piece can be recognized on the very first hearing and seems to address the whole Earth with no distinction of race, sex, age or religion.

This episode of Coffee with YEA is hosted by our fellow YEA Edona Haklaj, who hosted Anna Shkreli, an art and a culture activist from Albania.

Anna Shkreli completed her Masters in Editing at City University London and holds a degree in Literature and Cultural Heritage from the University of Bologna, Italy. An internship at PanMacmillan, London gave her first knowledge in the book industry. After moving to Albania, she served as editor at Botimet Çabej, advisor to the Ministry of State for Entrepreneurship, and later as Director of the Literary Museum, 'Kadare' in Tirana. Since July 2020 she's been the head of the Berk Publishing and Culture Center. She revitalized her grandmother's house. This house is located at ‘Him Kolli’ street, nr.13, and was built circa 1910-1920.

Now this house is Berk and Berk is not only a publishing house: it’s a concept, a philosophy, and a great example of saving the story of the city.

This episode of Coffee with YEA is hosted by our fellow YEA Visar Kukaqi, who hosted Bind Skeja, one of the founders of NGO "Qendra për Informim dhe Përmirësim Social" and the project of suicide helpline  "Linja e Jetës".

He finished his studies in Experimental Psychology at York University and is currently working on his Masters in Criminology in Malmo University.

Today Bind is engaged as an activist in the field of mental health and suicide prevention.

This episode of Coffee with YEA is hosted by our YEA Amila Gadžo, who welcomed Nikola Vučić, an editor, reporter, and presenter on N1 television in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Nikola is the author of the television show "Out of the Frame". Nikola is also the author of the book Critique of Toxic Masculinity, the first book in the Western Balkans to criticise Balkan "alpha-masculinity" and a declared feminist. He has won several awards, including the Journalist Award of UN Women in B&H, Association of BH Journalists, and Association XY in the category of TV journalism for reporting on the topic of gender-based violence; Award of the Commission for Gender Equality of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of B&H, which awards the Recognition for Contribution to Gender Equality in 2017 together with the Agency for Gender Equality of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of B&H, with the support of the OSCE Mission to B&H. He was nominated for the award by the Peace building Network and the Sarajevo Open Centre.

In this episode you can hear more from Tea Zeqaj, who was hosted by our YEA Megan Cungu.

Tea Zeqaj is a young environmental activist coming from Albania. With a professional background and her engagement as a youth delegate in the pre-COP 2021, Tea works for Heinrich Boll Foundation as program coordinator for Ecology and Sustainability. Previously, Tea was a project manager and public policy analyst for the Ministry of Tourism and Environment. She was in charge of managing project implementation, organizing activities, moderating meetings, preparing agendas and invitations. In addition to that, she compiled 3-month periodic reports on public policies of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment. She has rich experience as a project coordinator for “Sparkassenstiftung for International Cooperation Albania” and “Civic Resilience”. For two consecutive years, 01/06/2018-01/06/2020, Tea, in the role of junior coordinator and office manager for Environmental Center for Development, Education and Networking (EDEN), recruited, supervised, and coordinated groups of volunteers. Her professional contribution was noticed in the revitalization of the services offered by EDEN and in the great representation of the center on a national and international level.

Originally from North Macedonia, Gorjan made the move to the Netherlands in 2015 after completing his Bachelor in Computer Science and Engineering in Skopje. After graduating “cum-laude” from the University of Amsterdam in 2016 with a Master's in Software Engineering, he worked in Amsterdam as a developer and manager for Booking.com.

Having been involved in North Macedonia’s 3000-strong eco-movement since 2014, he actively searches for ways on how technology and data can contribute towards the fight against air pollution. This passion inspired him to develop AirCare, the air-quality tracking app that is currently being used by more than 500,000 people.  His desire to spread North Macedonia’s story coupled with his love for public speaking has led Gorjan to hold both tech and motivational talks at numerous conferences – to the extent that he was invited to hold his own TED talk in 2018 titled “The Data I Breathe”. 

Since 2020, Gorjan has focused his efforts on expanding AirCare as a platform for both activists and citizens around the world who live in highly polluted areas. He was awarded the 2020 Macedonian Quality Award by the President of the Republic, Europe’s Best Young Entrepreneur Award for 2020 by the World Summit Awards, and the 2020 WSA Global award for the Green Energy and Environment category with AirCare for his work.

Listen to this new Coffee with YEA episode and find out what Gorjan has to say about the future of climate.

Listen to this episode of "Coffee with YEA" where our Young European Ambassador Aleksandar Ljubomirovic interviews Sanja Beronja.

Sanja Beronja graduated from The Paris School of International Affairs and Sciences Po European campus in Dijon- the same place where the leading European politicians and statesmen- like Francois Hollande, Jacques Chirac, as well as Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United Nations received their education. Sanja sees innovation in education and technological entrepreneurship as drivers of local development and researches and writes about these topics. She lives between Berlin and Paris and is active in those two cities, as well as in her native Belgrade.  

More on webalkans.eu.

Listen to this episode of "Coffee with YEA" where our Young European Ambassador Amina Kaja interviews Eldena Dakaj.

Eldena Dakaj is a poet, activist and curling athlete from Kosovo. She made history with Kosovo’s curling team in 2019, getting their first-ever win at the World Mixed Championships against Nigeria. Dakaj is now part of the Executive Board of Kosovo’s Curling Federation, constantly trying to get her sport’s name appreciated and known. A mentor for PEN, she coaches youth and helps them make changes in the community. As a student of RIT, Dakaj participated in different charity actions. She is a great poet and the founder of Poetic Release – the first slam poetry group in Kosovo, and thus has organized many poetry nights. 

More on webalkans.eu.

Our pilot episode Coffee with YEA, hosted by our YEA from Montenegro Stefan Vukmanovic is featuring Alessandro Da Rold, the Managing Director of EU40, the Network of Young Members of the European Parliament, and the Co-Founder of the Cortina Digital Forum. 

Alessandro and Stefan talked about many important and interesting topics for young people today: activism, volunteering, how to be an influential leader in today's world, how to become visible and take the stage. You will enjoy this one and hopefully be inspired to become a game-changer yourself! 

Stay tuned for the upcoming Coffee with YEA episodes on Youtube and Spotify!