Belgrade, 10 June, 2025: The Europe House in Belgrade hosted the first WeBalkans Regional Youth Photo Contest exhibition, featuring 18 selected photographs from a pool of 183 submissions by young people across the Western Balkans. The exhibition is a part of DG ENEST WeBalkans public campaign Ready. Steady. Our Europe.

As Belgrade marks the start of the regional tour, the exhibition will continue on to Podgorica, Tirana, Skopje, Maglaj, Pristina, and Struga between June and August 2025. The exhibitions will be held in Europe Houses, public spaces and cultural centres, providing visibility to young talents and sparking dialogue around sport, youth, and shared values.

“We want young people to be at the very foundation of the European path, not as observers but as active participants in building a Europe that is peaceful, united, and open to all who share its values.Today, we are especially proud to congratulate three young women from Serbia whose photographs are among the 18 selected for this regional exhibition.”, said Plamena Halacheva, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia.

“When we discussed with our network what unites us across Europe, we realized it is the values that sport carries—unity, effort, hard work, defeat, learning from defeat, the path to victory, and teamwork. We are sending a clear message that the process is what matters, not necessarily the victory”, added Selena Tasic, Public Diplomacy Manager of the WeBalkans project.

A jury of six prominent photographers, vloggers, and media professionals from the Western Balkans had the challenging task of selecting the top entries.

“Sport is definitely what connects young people. It allows them to travel, to work, to create, and to be recognized globally. WeBalkans shows what young people are capable of.“, said jury member Aleksandar Krstanović, sport journalist, campaign jury member.

The Belgrade event brought together more than 50 young participants, EU representatives, influencers, and media professionals. Besides the EU Ambassador to Serbia, the speakers included Dušan Simonović, Young European Ambassador; professional basketball player and winner of FIBA 3×3 Champions Cup 2025, Nenad Nerandžić; and world champions in table tennis Bogdan Marojević and Nikola Mitro.

“I think it’s a great thing that the European Union supports activities like these within the field of sports in the region, and I look forward to seeing more projects of this kind.” said Nenad Nerandžić.

“It is important that the European Union encourages young people to engage in sports and to promote true values.” added Bogdan Marojević.

The audience was also addressed by one of the winning photographers from Serbia, Vida Jović, who said: “My photograph came about completely by chance—a moment when everything just fell into place. It was taken a few years ago, without preparation or equipment; it was simply a special moment. Teamwork in sports is uniquely powerful, and I’m glad that this is visible in all the photographs.”

The photo journey will culminate in an online public vote, set to take place in August on webalkans.eu where audiences will be invited to select their favorite images. The top six winning photographers (one per Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) will be awarded a trip to an EU capital—a symbolic step on their journey toward Europe.