The results of the first year of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence were presented and discussed at a four-day seminar in Berlin. The ten fellows from throughout Southeast Europe, who were in May awarded funding and professional support to conduct individual research projects, met from November 13-16 to reflect on their experiences and present their work to the programme’s Selection Committee, which then chose one journalist to receive a prize for best article.

The prize was awarded to Nikoleta Popkostadinova, a Bulgarian journalist, for her article Jobs Boom in Bulgaria Leaves Roma Behind at a ceremony held on the evening of November 16. The ceremony also marked the official launch of the Fellowship publication, Moving On: Overcoming Balkan Barriers to a European Future, a book featuring all ten fellows’ articles.

The event was hosted by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, which initiated the Fellowship programme with the Erste Foundation, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

It began with individual meetings for fellows and the programme’s manager and editor, Anna McTaggart, during which the journalists’ performance and experiences were discussed. Feedback from fellows and the local BIRN editors who supported them during their research and writing was drawn together at a joint meeting the following day, including programme staff from the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Erste Foundation and BIRN. This session provided the group with an opportunity to make initial plans for alumni activity and future networking.

The seminar also featured a city tour and a series of meetings with experts on various topics related to the Fellowship 2007 theme – mobility – as well as other issues prominent in Europe today.

Frank Umbach, one of Germany´s leading researchers on international energy security with the German Council on Foreign Relations, DGAP, led a discussion on the transnational aspects of energy security. The main focus of the discussion was the high energy dependency of European countries, major risk factors in energy supply and measures, as well as the newly formed common energy policy of the European Union.

Reiner Klingholz, director of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, spoke with the fellows about the implications of demographic change on Germany and Europe. Political, social and economic causes and consequences of the aging of European societies were raised during the discussion.

At a working dinner with Katarina Batarilo, researcher at the Georg Eckert Institute, GEI, a lively discussion about the presentation of history in school text books took place. The debate was not only focused on Southeast Europe, but included German experiences and practices of commemoration of its national-socialist and socialist past.

A discussion with Emely Haber, Special Envoy for Southeast Europe and Turkey from the Federal Foreign Office of the Republic of Germany, covered the German stance towards the Balkan region in general and especially towards the issue of Kosovo’s status.

Sabine Kroissenbrunner, Head of the Dialogue of Cultures Task Force at the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, presented the Austrian approach towards immigration issues, with a focus on Muslim citizens.

The group also had the opportunity to see a preview of Borislav Despodov’s film, Corridor VIII, organised by Polina Slacheva, a fellow from Bulgaria whose research focused on the issue of transport networks in the Balkans.

The final day of the seminar was devoted to a meeting of the Fellowship Selection Committee, whose members are Christiane Schlötzer of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Alexandra Föderl-Schmidt of Der Standard, Gordana Igric of BIRN, Wolfgang Wähner-Schmidt, formerly of Reuters, Gerald Knaus from the European Stability Initiative, Dragutin Hedl from Feral Tribune, and Remzi Lani, of the Albanian Media Institute.

Basing their deliberations on completed articles, their editors’ evaluations, as well as individual presentations from the fellows, they selected Nikoleta Popkostadinova’s story and efforts as deserving of the final award – journalism training to the value of 8000 euros.

This was presented by Gerald Knaus at a special dinner held on the evening of November 16 for fellows, the Selection Committee and staff from the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Erste Foundation and BIRN.

All fellows received a copy of their articles, published by BIRN in a special book featuring all stories in English and the authors’ native languages.

The articles were also distributed widely in electronic form in English, German, Albanian, Bosnian/Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian and Serbian.

Book launch events followed the Berlin event in capital cities throughout the Balkans.

Fellowsâ