Skopje, December 1997

A CHALLENGE CALLED

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Emil Kirjas. I come from Skopje, the capital of Macedonia and am 22 years old.

As you can see I'm quite young, but I take that as an advantage and not as a disadvantage. Usually the younger people are more open, full of ideas and energy, willing to prove themselves in front of the others and sometimes less compromising in realizing their ideas and tasks.

The experience is also one of the crucial things for being able actively to contribute in the work of an international organization such as IFLRY. Personally I have been the International Officer of LUM, now LiDeM, since 1994. In the last years I have participated on a large number of international events that covered different topics - educational seminars, training programs and bilateral exchanges. Not only the knowledge that is received is significant. All of the contacts established in that period can help in making the international work more effective and interesting.

But what else can I offer in my work in the new IFLRY Bureau? I said I am young, but I still remember how the life used to look like 10 years ago in my country. As in the other former communist countries, in Macedonia, claiming to be a liberal was considered a political and juridical crime. Raising the subjects of the individual rights and the free market economy were condemned as a crime of high degree. Now a lot of people in the rest of the world understand how difficult it is for the communist-brain-washed people to transform themselves and widely to accept the values of an open and civic society. I have that experience and knowledge, but I'm also a person from the first generation who's education was liberated from ideology.

The communication with the people of different nationalities can sometimes be obstacle from the perspective of the languages. Even though globally the most of the young people can use the English language in their communication on international level, we can not neglect the fact that a lot of young people do not have such a knowledge. We have to avoid the possibility of having an unpleasant feeling among those people. I'll try to help out this problem to get solved by using, beside the English language, my knowledge of German, French and Russian language.

The involvement with the international- and especially European youth structures was always at the top of my priorities and interest. By being member of the Executive Board of the Macedonian Youth Council I had the opportunity to meet people from different organizations, both from Macedonia and Europe, and enjoyed the ability to defend the liberal values in front of different kind of people. This is also a very important point since IFLRY as an International NGO participates in the international and European youth structures where it deserves a decent representation.

Even though there are other things to be said I don't want to take away a lot of your attention. Just let me and up with a warm thanks on the support given to me by electing me a member of the IFLRY Bureau. I'll use the regular phrase that I'll do my best in the IFLRY work, but the time flies through so fast that you'll be still remembering this text when that estimation of my work will be on the agenda of the IFLRY General Assembly in 1999.

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