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Although Serbia has made progress since the 2000 removal of Slobodan Milosevic, it continues to struggle on many fronts. The uncertainty of the outcome of the Kosovo status talks, a reluctance to deal with the legacy of the past, and weak political institutions are all circumstances that make it difficult to confront Serbia's current challenges. In 2006, for example, the EU suspended Serbia's accession talks following the government's failure to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In such an environment, the country's political culture continues to be marked by suspicion, rumor-mongering, lack of communication, mutual disrespect, and intolerance, thus making effective dialogue between opposing political forces very difficult.

To confront this challenge, the Endowment is supporting several efforts to promote dialogue and cooperation among politically active youth. The Center for the Development of Parliamentary Debate (CDPD) is overseeing a program that brings together young leaders from Serbia's prodemocratic parties and exposes them to Western-style political discourse skills by staging mock parliamentary debates and providing communications and leadership training. Based in Belgrade, CDPD originated from the "Future Political Leaders" youth program implemented by NDI in Serbia and was spun off as a separate organization in 2005.

With NED assistance, the Center has engaged more than 150 young political and civic leaders in its parliamentary debate program. Monthly events bring together representatives from 12 prodemocratic parties from across the political spectrum to debate key issues facing Serbia today, such as decentralization, lustration, affirmative action, legislation on religious communities, electoral law, and the future status of Kosovo. A key element of the program is the inclusion of participants representing ethnic minority groups, including Hungarians from Vojvodina and Bosniaks from Sandzak, as well as civic activists and student leaders not yet politically engaged.

CDPD's program has attracted a number of prominent guest speakers, including Dr. Ralf Brauskiepe, an MP from the German Bundestag, and Ambassador Branko Milinkovic, Serbia's special envoy to NATO. In summer 2006, CDPD organized a successful mock debate at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, chaired by its Speaker, Predrag Markovic. Debate participants were joined by some 40 members of the Atlantic Association of Young Political Leaders, representing 10 European countries. A more recent debate focused on the role of youth candidates in the key January 2007 parliamentary elections.

The debate program not only promotes dialogue among future political leaders, but also empowers them to become skilled advocates for and informed participants in Serbia's democratization process. Participants are better prepared to take a more active role in promoting youth concerns within their parties, communicating pro-reform messages to the youth electorate, and contributing effectively to the policy-making process. This new program has already achieved results: at least four participants were promoted to leadership positions within their political parties, and one party has adopted the CDPD's debate format to discuss important organizational issues. At least 30 young candidates participating in the parliamentary elections have taken part in the CDPD program; several of these are likely to be in the National Assembly when a new government is formed.