For two days at the end of April 2026, the ‘Content Creation Hub’ event in Belgrade organised by WeBalkans became the meeting point for journalists, communicators, entrepreneurs, and EU representatives from across the Western Balkans. The Economic Development Creative Hub, organised under the EU With YOU campaign, brought together voices from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia around a single question: how do we make the EU’s support to the region visible, concrete, and connected to the people who live it?
“EU support is not abstract — it shows up in the streets of our cities, in the businesses our neighbours run, in the opportunities our young people pursue,” said Plamena Halacheva, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, opening the plenary. The framing set the tone for everything that followed: moving from policy language to lived experience.
Marie Brancaleone from the Directorate General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood reminded participants that the EU accession process is, at its core, a process of transformation that affects daily life, from the air people breathe to the markets their products reach. Raluca Costache, Team Leader of the WeBalkans programme, and Selena Tasić, Public Diplomacy Manager, then introduced the EU With YOU campaign as the connective tissue between regional reforms and the citizens whose lives those reforms are meant to improve.
From research labs to the global markets
The morning’s lightning talk came from Oskar Marko, Head of the Center for Information Technologies at Serbia’s Biosense Institute. His message was simple: EU opportunities work when institutions know how to use them. Biosense has built a track record of turning Horizon Europe research grants into agricultural innovation that reaches farmers across the region, proof that the path from EU funding to real-world impact is shorter than it often appears.
Three conversations, one message
The thematic talks that followed mapped the economic landscape of the Western Balkans from three different vantage points.
In the WBIF-powered session moderated by David Piegazki of the WB6 Chamber Investment Forum, six speakers traced how the Western Balkans Investment Framework has deployed nearly €9 billion and supported over 600,000 businesses across the region. Benedykt Klimowski from the European Commission put it plainly: “When your local bank offers you a better deal, there is EU support behind it.”
Edina Hadžić, founder of the Bosnian circular fashion brand ‘Sugar on Top’, reframed the region’s small scale as an advantage: “You have to be honest about where you stand. It comes down to true transparency.”
Tina Mihajlović, who co-founded the Serbian solar AI startup Solarise Technologies, spoke about the gap between technical talent and market readiness, and the role mentorship plays in bridging it.
The EBRD-powered talk, moderated by Aleksandra Vukosavljević, Director for Financial Institutions for Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, focused on green and competitive SMEs. The conversation made clear that sustainability is no longer optional for businesses in the region, but it is rather driven by buyer requirements, rising energy costs, and access to finance. ESG standards are now part of how banks and investors decide where capital flows. With SMEs representing 98 to 99% of companies in the Western Balkans, the question of how to help smaller firms align with EU standards while competing in larger markets sits at the heart of the region’s economic future. Speakers including Kujtim Gjevori of PowerPack in Kosovo and Tomi Pikuli of AgriNet in Albania shared how regional integration is shaping their growth.
The third thematic talk, powered by EU Delegations across the Western Balkans and moderated by Marie Brancaleone, looked at the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans as the framework guiding the region’s economic transformation. Delegation representatives joined from each of the six economies, online and in person, to discuss what the next phase of integration looks like on the ground.
The messages we send out
The first day closed with a wrap-up that made the event’s purpose explicit. Journalists Greta Topjana from Albania and Višnja Višnjić Milić from RTS Serbia joined the WeBalkans team for a conversation about how EU stories travel, and where they get lost. A recurring theme: programmes and financial instruments for young people and entrepreneurs exist, but remain underused because communication is fragmented and outreach is not as present as should be. Closing that gap is exactly what the Creative Hub was built to do.
Day two: from talk to product
The second morning shifted from discussion to production. In a Content Creation and Production Lab led by Samra Lučkin, Arian Rexhepi, Vullnet Gacaferri, and Stanislava Marojević, participants split into working groups to turn the previous day’s conversations into shareable and engaging content, social media posts, photographs, short statements, interviews with multipliers, and plans for longer-form videos and feature articles to follow in the weeks ahead. In a parallel room, the WeBalkans Multipliers Network gave participants five minutes each to introduce their work and find collaborators across borders.
The output of those few hours will travel further than the room itself: across the WeBalkans website, partner channels, and the social platforms where the next generation of Western Balkans citizens encounters the EU a partner in the everyday.
EU With YOU
The Belgrade Creative Hub is the first event in a series of events that WeBalkans, under the EU with YOU campaign, is planning around the region. EU With YOU, is a regional public diplomacy campaign that connects EU support across the Western Balkans to the people, businesses, and communities living the transformation. More stories and activities from the campaign will be published on WeBalkans digital communication channels in the coming weeks.
From research labs to the global markets
The morning’s lightning talk came from Oskar Marko, Head of the Center for Information Technologies at Serbia’s Biosense Institute. His message was simple: EU opportunities work when institutions know how to use them. Biosense has built a track record of turning Horizon Europe research grants into agricultural innovation that reaches farmers across the region, proof that the path from EU funding to real-world impact is shorter than it often appears.
Three conversations, one message
The thematic talks that followed mapped the economic landscape of the Western Balkans from three different vantage points.
In the WBIF-powered session moderated by David Piegazki of the WB6 Chamber Investment Forum, six speakers traced how the Western Balkans Investment Framework has deployed nearly €9 billion and supported over 600,000 businesses across the region. Benedykt Klimowski from the European Commission put it plainly: “When your local bank offers you a better deal, there is EU support behind it.”
Edina Hadžić, founder of the Bosnian circular fashion brand ‘Sugar on Top’, reframed the region’s small scale as an advantage: “You have to be honest about where you stand. It comes down to true transparency.”
Tina Mihajlović, who co-founded the Serbian solar AI startup Solarise Technologies, spoke about the gap between technical talent and market readiness, and the role mentorship plays in bridging it.
The EBRD-powered talk, moderated by Aleksandra Vukosavljević, Director for Financial Institutions for Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, focused on green and competitive SMEs. The conversation made clear that sustainability is no longer optional for businesses in the region, but it is rather driven by buyer requirements, rising energy costs, and access to finance. ESG standards are now part of how banks and investors decide where capital flows. With SMEs representing 98 to 99% of companies in the Western Balkans, the question of how to help smaller firms align with EU standards while competing in larger markets sits at the heart of the region’s economic future. Speakers including Kujtim Gjevori of PowerPack in Kosovo and Tomi Pikuli of AgriNet in Albania shared how regional integration is shaping their growth.
The third thematic talk, powered by EU Delegations across the Western Balkans and moderated by Marie Brancaleone, looked at the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans as the framework guiding the region’s economic transformation. Delegation representatives joined from each of the six economies, online and in person, to discuss what the next phase of integration looks like on the ground.
The messages we send out
The first day closed with a wrap-up that made the event’s purpose explicit. Journalists Greta Topjana from Albania and Višnja Višnjić Milić from RTS Serbia joined the WeBalkans team for a conversation about how EU stories travel, and where they get lost. A recurring theme: programmes and financial instruments for young people and entrepreneurs exist, but remain underused because communication is fragmented and outreach is not as present as should be. Closing that gap is exactly what the Creative Hub was built to do.
Day two: from talk to product
The second morning shifted from discussion to production. In a Content Creation and Production Lab led by Samra Lučkin, Arian Rexhepi, Vullnet Gacaferri, and Stanislava Marojević, participants split into working groups to turn the previous day’s conversations into shareable and engaging content, social media posts, photographs, short statements, interviews with multipliers, and plans for longer-form videos and feature articles to follow in the weeks ahead. In a parallel room, the WeBalkans Multipliers Network gave participants five minutes each to introduce their work and find collaborators across borders.
The output of those few hours will travel further than the room itself: across the WeBalkans website, partner channels, and the social platforms where the next generation of Western Balkans citizens encounters the EU a partner in the everyday.
EU With YOU
The Belgrade Creative Hub is the first event in a series of events that WeBalkans, under the EU with YOU campaign, is planning around the region. EU With YOU, is a regional public diplomacy campaign that connects EU support across the Western Balkans to the people, businesses, and communities living the transformation. More stories and activities from the campaign will be published on WeBalkans digital communication channels in the coming weeks.
Please wait while your video is being uploaded...
Don't close this window!
