Based on the Franco-German model
It was the first time that Sofia Svoliantopoulou had been to Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. When the 28-year-old Greek woman visited the city in October 2018, she was brimming with curiosity: “I had heard lots of stories, but I wanted to go there, talk to people and form my own opinion.” Although Svoliantopoulou grew up in Kozani only 100 kilometres from the Greek-Macedonian border, she did not know the neighbouring country. The Civil Society Forum, a three-day gathering organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), first took the young woman to Skopje. “It was a unique opportunity,” she says. She got to know lots of people, had in-depth discussions, tried the food and explored the city on foot.
