Centre for Civic Education, Centre for Development of Non-Governmental Organisations and European Movement in Montenegro, with support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Serbia and Montenegro, published an announcement on 25 April 2006, regarding a study visit to EU, within the “Learn about EU personally” project.
Upon a careful consideration of all applications and conducting interviews where necessary, a committee made up of representatives of the organiser, in cooperation with the donor, selected an inter-sector delegation of ten members, who will have the chance to learn about the EU institutions in Brussels, and represent Montenegro in this visit. The selected participants are:
- prof. dr Vjera Begović Radović
- prof. dr Danijela Jaćimović
- prof. dr Maja Kostić Mandić
- mr Aleksandar Damjanović
- Olivera Vukadinović
- Vidak Latković
- Ljiljana Pjerotić
- Damir Šehović
- Vidosava Kašćelan
- Srđan Šuković
The actual visit will take place in the first half of September 2006. The delegation will be received by the European parliament members, and attend a series of meetings in different Directorates of the European Commission, Council of the EU, European Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions, as well as in the permanent missions Finland, and a few leading non-governmental organisations in Brussels.
Just as a reminder, a total of 142 candidates applied for this programme, coming from various educational backgrounds – among them 5 PhDs, 7 people with Masters’ degrees, 97 with Bachelor degrees, 2 with a completed high school education, 3 high school pupils and 28 students. Most candidates for the study visit to EU came from the government institutions and from among the student population (19,72% each), followed by the NGO activists (14,79%), entrepreneurs (9,86%), and finally those working for international organisations and local governments (7,04% each). University and the media were represented in 4. 93 % of all applicants, while 4,23% came from among the political party representatives, who expressed their wish to learn about the EU in this way. Among the other applicants were also representatives of the judiciary and independent professions.
The selection committee was guided by the following criteria: substantial prior knowledge of European integrations, asserted motivation and ability to implement the acquired knowledge relatively quickly, and a functional knowledge of English language. The intention was also to bring to Brussels those had never been in the city before. Due to high number of applicants and their considerably high profile, the selection turned out to be very difficult. Therefore, the organisers will try to organise again soon the similar visit in order to give another chance to all those quality candidates who unfortunately did not make it into the final round of selection.
Selected participants of the Study visit to the EU
– Prof. Dr. Vjera Begovic Radovic, professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Montenegro. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica, earned her Master degree at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, and PhD at the Faculty of Law in Podgorica. She teaches also at the Faculty of Political Science and at the Diplomatic Academy „Gavro Vukovic“. Main subjects: Political Economy, Introduction to Economic Policy, Contemporary Economic Systems, Economic Diplomacy. She published a great number of scientific and academic papers, both in the national and international journals. She is a member of the Managing Board of the Foundation Open Society Institute, Representative Office in Montenegro as well as of the Montenegrin Association of Young People with Disabilities. She is also active in various programmes of non-formal education.
– Prof. Dr. Danijela Jacimovic, professor at the Faculty of Economics of University of Montenegro. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica, with a Master and PhD degrees from the Faculty of Economics of Belgrade University. She is the Head of the postgraduate Master programme in International Economics at the Faculty of Economics. Main subjects: International Finances, European Union Institutions. She attended various specialisation programmes in Great Britain, USA and Japan. Her papers are published in national and international professional journals. She also worked as a consultant at KPMG Group/USAID in a development programme for macro policy, economic analysis and prognosis at the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro.
– Prof. Dr. Maja Kostic Mandic, professor at the Law Faculty of University of Montenegro. She graduated from the Law Faculty in Podgorica, with a Master and PhD degree from the Law Faculty of Belgrade University. She attended various specialisation programmes in Switzerland, Great Britain, Japan and Hungary. She is also teaching at the Diplomatic Academy „Gavro Vuković“and at the Institute of Foreign Languages. Main subjects: International Private Law, Introduction to Ecological Law, Introduction to Law, and she used to teach Contracts in International Business. She is an author of one and a co-author of three other books. Her papers are published in international professional journals. She is a member of the Managing Board of the Group for Changes. She used to work in numerous projects with University of Montenegro.
– Aleksandar Damjanovic, MA, secretary of the parliamentary club of SNP MN in the Parliament of Montenegro and advisor for economic matters. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica, with a Master from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Belgrade. Previously, he worked for the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Montenegro, and later in the Ministry of Finance the Government of FRY. Since 2003, he is an employee of the Socialist People’s Party. During the referendum campaign, he was Chairman of the Republican Committee for Financing the Referendum Campaign. He also completed European Integration School, organised by CCE, CDNGO and EMiM, with support of FOSI ROM (I generation) and the annual programme of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, under the auspices of the Council of Europe.
– Olivera Vukadinovic, editor of the Documentary Programme and Satellite Programme in the public broadcasting service RTCG. She graduated from the Law Faculty of University of Montenegro. Alos, she completed Human Rights and Minority Rights School, organised by the CCE, with support of the Council of Europe. In addition to this she did specialisation programmes at ZDF in Germany and BBC in Great Britain. She received series of awards in Germany, Switzerland and France for her contribution to building relationships between Montenegro and its Diaspora. As one of the founders and a vice-president of NGO Greens of Montenegro, she collaborated in a series of projects in the field of environment protection and promotion of Montenegrin ecological potentials. At RTCG, she has had experience in a broad range of journalistic genres.
– Vidak Latkovic, editor of the Foreign Affairs Department of the public broadcasting service RTCG. He is currently finishing Law Faculty at the University of Montenegro. He specialised in Human Rights at the Balkan Human Rights Network programme for future decision-makers. He also completed European Integration School, organised by CCE, CDNGO and EMiM with support of FOSI ROM (II generation) and School of Social Change, organised by CDNGO and NED. He received a Konrad Adenauer Foundation scholarship. Also, he is active in the NGO sector, through various student associations and organisations advocating for the consciousness objection. He coordinated and participated in several national, regional and international Moot Court tournaments.
– Ljiljana Pjerotic, advisor for education, culture and public information in municipality of Budva. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Novi Sad, currently attending post-graduate studies in the field of European Economic Integrations at the Faculty of Economics of University of Montenegro. She completed the European Integration School programme, organised by CCE, CDNGO and EMIM, with support of FOSI ROM (II generation). For years, she has been teaching economics and related subjects at the high school “Danilo Kiš” in Budva, where she also initiated a series of programmes aimed at promotion of European Integration process. She is an active member of the European Movement in Montenegro. She also attended training for trainers for project management funded through EU funds.
– Damir Sehovic, teaching assistant at the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of University of Podgorica, and he is currently working on his Master thesis for the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade. Throughout his studies, he received a series of achievement awards from the University, Government of Montenegro and various private foundations. He completed the European Integration School organised by CCE, CDNGO and EMiM with support of FOSI ROM (III generation), Human Rights and Minority Rights School organised by CCE with support of the Council of Europe, and School of Social Changes organised by CDNGO supported by NED. He is president of the Executive Board of Social-democratic Youth of Montenegro.
– Vidosava Kascelan, senior advisor at the Bureau for Education Services of the Republic of Montenegro. She graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the Belgrade University, where she specialised in methodology of mathematics. For years she has been working as a professor of mathematics in Kotor Gymnasium, later as inspector of the Ministry of Science and Education, and for one mandate she was elected the Mayor of Kotor. She is a member of the Main board of Democratic Party of Socialists. She coordinated numerous projects in the field of civic education, educational reform, adopting new methodology and curriculum, EU standards in education, etc. She is president of the Commission for Reform in Gymnasiums, and she also participated in the work of various related Commissions. She actively participated at various conferences in the country and abroad.
– Srdjan Sukovic, independent advisor at the Department for Cooperation with European Union and European Central Bank at the Central Bank of Montenegro. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of University of Montenegro. He completed the programme of the Diplomatic Academy “Gavro Vuković” in Podgorica, and for a period of time he was employed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Montenegro, and at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He attended various seminars specialising in the field of economics, banking, project management, cooperation among countries of Central and Eastern Europe etc
* The list was created based on selection procedure which encompassed processing applications and conducting interviews. In case one or more of the selected participants are prevented from participating in the visit, or should the organisers receive additional assets for the project, changes and additions to this list may be possible. If such a case occurs, the candidates will be added/replaced from among the candidates who were shortlisted for the visit, but unfortunately did not pass in the final round of selections, taking into consideration proportional representation of all sectors.