Whether or not to limit the time of using networks for people under the age of 16 – is the debate that took place in the National Assembly of Serbia as the finale of the European School of Debate in front of more than 150 high school students and students from all over Serbia. Two teams of the most successful participants of the tenth jubilee debate school presented everything “for” and “against” this decision with excellent arguments.

This topic is becoming an important social issue and of great interest to young people, both here and in the European Union itself. The jury, faced with a very difficult task, considered that the representatives of the opposition who opposed the introduction of restrictive measures were slightly better in arguing their positions. Considering the quality of the discussion and the demonstrated results, the Delegation of the European Union awarded all the finalists with a study trip to Brussels.

The jury consisted of European Union Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret, Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević and debate coach from Open Communications Teodora Rešetar.

EU Ambassador to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret thanked the participants for their great arguments and performance.

“Today you showed the strength of arguments and critical thinking in a great way. In a similar way, the member states of the European Union defend their national interests and through dialogue and arguments come to common and compromise positions,” said Giaufret.

Minister Tanja Miščević praised the debaters and used the opportunity to give the finalists, as a teacher to her former or future students, some useful tips regarding debating and public speaking.

The President of the Committee for European Integration of the National Assembly, Elvira Kovač, in the role of host, greeted the participants of the final debate and the participants of this year’s school.

The European School of Debate is a project implemented by the EU info network of the Delegation of the European Union and the debate academic network Open Communication. The goal of this project is to educate high school students and students about the European Union, the process of European integration and debating skills.

Over the past ten years, more than 1,000 high school students and students from over 30 cities and municipalities across Serbia attended the debate school, and more than 40 public debates were organised.

You can find more information about the European School of Debate here.