Albanian journo in WYF for 2nd time says Egypt is safe

CAIRO – 14 December 2019: Jona Koprencka, a deputy editor of an online website in Albania, spoke to Egypt Today about her fruitful participation in the first edition of the World Youth Forum in 2017, where she found herself surrounded by people from different countries united around one goal, peace.

She was selected then as part of United Nation Stimulation, where she and her team won the Price of Honorable Delegation. This year, Koprencka prepares for her second participation in the forum set to kick off on Dec. 14 in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

“I was surprised by the beauty of Sharm el Sheikh and all outdoors activities that I made. For more I found Egyptians guys very friendly and ready to help,” she added.


Jona Koprencka, a deputy editor of an online website in Albania - Photo via Jona Koprencka

Koprencka went to say that before arriving in Egypt for the first time in 2017, she heard a lot of different news about the country; however, she explains that being a media practitioner herself enabled her to filter news, and not believe everything on TV or the internet.

“I understand that Egypt is a safe country that is working on developing political and economy areas. It is a country that attracts you with its natural beauty,” she continued.

She said that events of such magnitude as the World Youth Forum positively affect the image of a country, adding that not only the participants but also foreign missions and international media will understand the importance given by the state to cooperative policies, foreign relations, and their impact on the international and security arenas.

Like many participants, Koprencka expressed her interest in this edition’s theme of Artificial Intelligence (AI), where she cites it is a double weapon, as it facilitates and helps solve tasks. It is also considered dangerous like in autonomous weapons that are programmed to kill. “If [AI] is in the hands of the wrong person, these weapons can cause a disaster, which can lead to intelligent warfare.”

Koprencka graduated for the Faculty of International Relations and Political Science at Epoka University, where she worked as a teaching assistant. She is a CVE/PVE [countering/preventing violent extremism] project coordinator and deputy editor in chief of the online website Gazeta Mendimi.