Aug 29, 2012
The Tokyo Foundation staff visited Austria in late June this year and met with former Serbian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, a Sylff fellow from the University of Belgrade who was named the inaugural recipient of the Sylff Prize in 2004.
The prize was awarded in recognition of his outstanding leadership during the struggle for democracy under the regime of President Slobodan Milosevic. (His article on global leadership and the protection of human rights can be viewed here)
Members of the Tokyo Foundation met Mr. Svilanovic in Vienna, where he now lives with his family. He is currently the coordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities at the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. <www.osce.org/eea/43228> He was appointed to the post in December 2008 and has focused his activities on Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Southeast Europe.
Starting in January 2013, he is scheduled to become the secretary general of the Regional Co-operation Council, whose secretariat is in Sarajevo. RCC is a regional cooperative framework for 12 countries in the Southeast European area, including Turkey and Greece, aimed at inspiring development and bringing benefits to the people of the region.