European Union

Avni Rrustemi school team from Kamenica beat Lasgush Poradeci school from Shtime/Štimlje in the Grand Final to win the first ever Europe Quiz trophy and the holiday of a lifetime – an overland trip through Europe to Brussels and back.  The Europe Quiz was created and organised by EU Perspective in Kosovo (EUPK), a project funded by the European Union.

During March and April 2011, 24 schools from across Kosovo took part in 8 semi-finals held in Pristina/Prishtinë/Priština, Pejë/Peč, Prizren, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, Gjakovë/Đakovica, Ferizaj/Uroševac and Gjilan/Gnjilane.  From these heats, eight schools – seven Albanian-speaking and one Serbian-speaking - qualified to compete in the Finals held in the Amphitheatre of the American School of Kosovo on 6 May.  Avni Rrustemi and Lasgush Poradeci schools emerged as winners of those heats to go head to head in the Grand Final.  After a thrilling, hard-fought contest, Avni Rrustemi school went ahead to take the trophy and the great European adventure holiday.

The aim of the Europe Quiz is to encourage young people to learn more about their EU neighbours, how Kosovo fits into its wider European setting and what Kosovo must do to ensure their future prosperity.  EUPK believe that it is already well on its way to achieving that goal.  The Quiz questions and answers were all drawn from a Handbook produced and distributed by EUPK to competing schools and as the semi-finals progressed it became clear that the competitors – and their teachers and supporters – had learned the text by heart.  “It was amazing to watch”, said EUPK Team Leader Patrick Brooks.  “We soon learned that we had to make the questions really difficult so that we eventually got a winner.  Setting the questions for the Finals was a nightmare!”

Presenting the winners with their trophy and dream prize, Acting Head of the EC Liaison Office Khaldoun Sinno noted that the EU and Kosovo share many important values, in particular the priority both place on young people and on constructing a better future for them. He therefore welcomed that fact that “so many children participate with such enthusiasm, in the quizzes … the EU sometimes seems a bit boring, but this competition shows that it can be quite the opposite!” said Mr Sinno.

The winners’ EU odyssey will take them to Brussels via Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Holland on the way there and then back via France (including a day at Disneyland Paris), Italy and by ferry to Albania.  EUPK will make a documentary for Kosovan TV following their progress and charting what they see and learn.

EUPK will organize another Europe Quiz in 2012 and have engaged a professional text book writer to produce a special book for the Quiz and for use in Kosovo’s schools.

For further questions about Europe Quiz, please contact Patrick Brooks (Tel. 045453243, patrick@eupk.org) or Dragan Barbutovski (Tel. 045453242, dragan@eupk.org).

For photos from the event, click here

For more information contact:

Fjolla Çeku, Press and Information Officer,
fjolla.ceku@eeas.europa.eu, 038 5131 327