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Regional Housing Programme starts delivery of 120 packages of construction materials to refugee families in Sremska Mitrovica

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The delivery by the Regional Housing Programme (RHP) of 120 packages of construction materials for refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia began today in Šašinci, near Sremska Mitrovica, in Serbia. Attendees at the ceremony to mark the occasion included Nataša Stanisavljević, Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia; Elvira Angulo Rodriguez, representing the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia, and Sarah Groen, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia.

 

Aleksa Pilipović, a refugee from Bugojno, BiH, received a package of construction materials worth €9,000. The Pilipović family received materials for the complete reconstruction of their home (roof, floors, insulation, facade, interior doors, carpentry and bathroom materials), which they plan to use to adapt their home to accommodate their six-year-old daughter, who has special needs.

 

The delivery of the remaining packages under the RHP SRB9 sub-project also began in Bačka Topola and Ruma.

BIRN Holds Visual Storytelling Workshop for Youngsters Interested in Transitional Justice

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From 20-21 October, 11 youngsters from all over the Balkans met in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo for the “Visual Storytelling Using War Crime Archives” workshop organised by Balkan Insight’s Transitional Justice program. With the help of Denis Dzidic, director of BIRN BiH and Lamija Grebo, journalist for BIRN BiH, and Nejra Mulaomerovic, programme associate for BIRN BTJ, they learned how to use war crimes archives and how to conduct interviews. Azem Kurtic, journalist for BIRN Hub, held a full-day workshop covering visual storytelling and video-making principles.

 

With the help of the trainers, the participants watched and analysed previous work that BIRN published on this topic, like “44 Months Under Siege” and “Lives Behind the Fields of Death”. “These stories are a way to heal together beyond borders and nationalities. It’s nice to see people doing these kinds of projects, and putting in the effort, it’s inspiring. But it makes you wonder why nobody else is doing this,” reflected a participant.

 

All these tools and knowledge will come in handy for the second part of the workshop, which starts when they travel back home. Each of them will produce two short video interviews with people who survived the wars in the former Yugoslavia. The best five applicants will be selected for a one-month exchange programme in 2023 in Sarajevo. This will enable the participants to foster closer networks, learn more about different facets of the war, gain skills and do more research into court archives.

 

Balkan Transitional Justice initiative is supported by the European Union, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

ErasmusDays: 6,300 local events celebrated Erasmus+

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On 13, 14 and 15 October 2022, the 6th edition of #ErasmusDays celebrated the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme, with 6,300 events taking place in 67 countries around the world. In the context of the 35th Anniversary of the Erasmus+ programme and the European Year of Youth, the highest number of local events has been organised as part of this year’s ErasmusDays in the initiative’s history.

 

Thanks to the work of the Erasmus+ National Agencies and the National Erasmus+ Offices in Europe and beyond, beneficiaries had the opportunity to share their success stories in-person and online. All events were open to the public and included festivals, conferences, exhibitions, sports events, social media contests, videos and podcasts. The organisers were Erasmus+ beneficiaries of all kinds, from schools and universities, to vocational education institutions and youth organisations.

 

One of the novelties of this edition has been the social media challenge #GuessWherasmus, as part of which former beneficiaries had to record a video dance, with viewers guessing the destination of their Erasmus+ exchange.

RYCO and Superschools Delegation Participate in Berlin Process Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the Western Balkans

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RYCO Secretary General Mr. Albert Hani and Superschools Delegation participated in the Foreign Ministers Meeting held within the Berlin Process. The meeting was hosted this year by the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and took place on the premises of the German Federal Foreign Office.The opening remarks delivered by the German Foreign Minister were followed by the plenary with the six foreign ministers from the region, participants from the EU, RYCO, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), and the Civil Society Forum. During the Ministerial Meeting, talks were focused on inter alia, issues related to energy, climate change, reconciliation initiatives, and youth.

 

Minister Annalena Bearbock emphasized the importance of regional cooperation and especially bringing young people from the region together. She has underlined the Berlin process as key platform for cooperation in the WB Region which is showing concrete results. Acknowledging the results of RYCO programs and bringing thousands of young people together, Minister Bearbock has announced the establishment of the new Cultural Fund which should provide even more opportunities and programs or mobility and cooperation of young people, administered by RYCO. As a new Regional Fund this idea has been welcomed very well and readiness for strong support has been given by all actors. The message that the Berlin Process is concrete and on the fast track was announced by the fact that this year Western Balkan Summit is bringing to the Region three very important “mobility” agreements who are result of great work of regional initiatives supported through the Berlin Process.

 

RYCO Superschools program is part of a multi-donor project “Western Balkans School Exchange Scheme” co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with RYCO.

Statement by President von der Leyen on the occasion of her official visit to Kosovo

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Dear President,  
Thank you very much. It is very good to be back in Pristina and to see you again. Indeed, we had a very good meeting with intensive talks and we took stock of the progress that Kosovo achieved in the past year. And there was a lot of progress, you are absolutely right. You have been working hard. I know that your country continues to demonstrate an enormous commitment to the European path. You have shown time and again your commitment to the values of the European Union. And especially most recently again, with your full alignment with the EU sanctions in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. You are undertaking ambitious reforms. I know that this is easily said but difficult to be done, and I really commend you for that. And this hard work that Kosovo has undertaken is reflected in our last enlargement report, which is very positive for Kosovo. Your efforts to strengthen democracy and the rule of law have been recognised. You have also made a lot of progress and efforts on fighting corruption. So, that is all very good. You are building, step by step, not only the judiciary but also a very solid market economy. This part is also highly recognised by the European Commission and it shows in the report.  
I hear you loud and clear on the topic of visa liberalisation and you know you have an ally in the Commission, and in me personally, on that topic. You are right, I think Kosovo deserves the visa liberalisation. I know how important it is for you. You have fulfilled all the benchmarks. Indeed, it was our assessment already in July 2018. But we have now reaffirmed that you have fulfilled all the necessary criteria and we stand by it. Now, our task is to convince the whole European Council.  Many members of the European Council are on your side. It is very good that these discussions have restarted. We will work very intensively with the Czech Presidency. It needs a lot of diplomatic effort and explanation and work, back and forth. You can count on me personally, you can count on us in the Commission to do everything to help you on your way, knowing that you are doing this impressive work.  
You are doing all this impressive work against a very difficult backdrop. And that is the atrocious war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine. It is sending shock waves through the entire world. And it is unbelievable how cruel and brutal the destruction that Russia brings onto the Ukrainian people is.  Russia is terrorising the citizens of Ukraine, deliberately bombing and targeting civil infrastructure in the attempt to cut off Ukrainian men, women and children from electricity, water, heating, with the winter approaching. And we see that Russia is using energy very strategically as a weapon, manipulating the markets. And you also feel here in Kosovo, of course, the knock-on effects of this unbelievable behaviour – with the rising energy prices and the difficulties in security of supply. And you have been affected, too, as you said.  
But rest assured, the European Union will never give in to this blackmail. And we are in this together because we are in one Energy Union. So we stand side by side. And our response is unity and it is solidarity. We have to tackle this crisis; we will tackle this crisis. And we are in this together because we are in one Energy Union. So for you, it is important that you have full access to the joint procurement of gas. I know that is important for the region, not so important for Kosovo, but you are invited to join the platform for the joint procurement of gas. You will of course benefit from the discussions and the legal proposals, which we have in the European Union concerning caps on gas prices at the so-called TTF level, but also from the discussions on the influence that gas prices have on electricity prices. In other words: We are doing everything necessary to tame the high energy prices and the high electricity prices. And of course, as we are in one Energy Union, you will benefit from that, too.  
But right now, you need immediate support, immediate financial budget support. So we will grant EUR 75 million for the immediate support to vulnerable households or vulnerable businesses. And we will finalise all the necessary procedures until the end of the year so that you can get the funding for your budget as of January. Then, there is another piece of investment in grants, these are EUR 500 million for the whole region, where we indeed want to support you on your path towards energy independence and security of supply. This is the investment in renewables first and foremost, but also in energy connections throughout Europe, more energy efficiency. But, as I said, the most important for us is the investment in renewable energy. Because renewable energy is not only good for the climate, it is good for the independence of our region. These renewables energies are home-grown and they create good jobs here at home. The support will be channelled under the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans. As you mentioned, I know that a lot of important work is already done here in Kosovo on the energy efficiency measures, in the building sector. I commend you for the plans of installation of photovoltaic panels, the upgrade of the district heating with clean energy in eight cities in Kosovo.  
I am very curious to go to the project that I will visit soon, the Faculty of Architecture of Pristina, a very important project that we are funding and which enables to switch from heavy-fuel oil to waste heat energy. So it is really a double approach: Getting rid of the waste but in a sustainable way. And you get out of it the heating for the district heating that you need. So this is improving not only the environment, but also the life of the inhabitants of Pristina.  
Dear President,  
To reconfirm: Kosovo’s place is in the European Union. I am deeply convinced of that. And you are showing it on a daily basis. I will always say that Europe is not complete without Kosovo. That is very clear. And with Russia’s war waging against Ukraine, our relations with our Western Balkan partners are more important than ever and have to be intensified. You said, rightly so, that it is an investment in peace, stability and prosperity of our shared continent. So rest assured that the European Union is more committed than ever to the enlargement process. We will support you as well as possible to join us in the European Union. For that, I know a lot of topics are still to be tackled. But thank you very much again for the very good talks we did have. We went in detail into the different challenges. And I am very confident that by working together, we will move forward and one day you will be a member of the European Union. And I am waiting for that as much as you are.  
Thank you very much.

President von der Leyen in the Western Balkans to discuss EU support to deal with the energy crisis

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Russia’s energy blackmail and manipulation of the markets is not sparing the Western Balkans. The EU is determined to support our partners in coping with high energy prices and improving their energy security in the long term. This is the context of President von der Leyen‘s visit to the Western Balkans this week. President first visited the Republic of North Macedonia, where she  had meetings with President Stavo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski. On Thursday morning, President von der Leyen  traveled to Pristina, Kosovo, where she met with President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu and Prime Minister Albin Kurti. In the afternoon, the President traveled to Tirana, Albania, where she met with President Bajram Begaj and Prime Minister Edi Rama.
 
On Friday morning, she will travel to Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There, the President will meet with the newly elected members of the country’s Presidency, as well as the elected members of the Parliamentary Assembly and selected representatives of society. In the afternoon, President von der Leyen will travel to Belgrade, in Serbia, where she will meet President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. She will also visit the Gas Interconnector Serbia-Bulgaria in the village of Jelašnica, together with President Vučić. Lastly, on Saturday, the President will be in Podgorica, in Montenegro, where she will meet with President Milo Đukanović and Prime Minister Dritan Abazović. She will visit the project ‘Trans-Balkan Electricity Corridor: Grid Section in Montenegro’.

EU increases support for border and migration management in the Western Balkans

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The Commission adopted a recommendation to the Council to authorise the opening of negotiations of upgraded European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) status agreements between the EU and Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, as well as with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Commission is also adopting today a new assistance package worth €39.2 million under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) to strengthen border management in the Western Balkans.  
Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said: “We are committed to supporting our partners in the Western Balkans and strengthening our cooperation on migration management on the ground. Therefore, we propose to negotiate status agreements under the new legal framework that would allow for the deployment of Frontex to all four partner countries with the full power of its mandate, to ensure that their borders continue to be respected and protected in line with European best practices.”  
Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, said: “This package is timely, as migration remains an area where we need to work even more closely with our Western Balkan partners. Given the increased migratory pressure in the region, we are focusing on strengthening border protection, fighting the smuggling networks and stepping up returns from region. To this end, we will provide increased political and financial help. Between 2021 and 2024, we intend to increase our funding by 60% in total, to at least €350 million for our Western Balkan partners. This will support the Western Balkans in all areas of developing effective migration management systems, including asylum and reception, border security and returns. We count on the commitment our Western Balkan partners to make these actions a success.”  
With today’s proposal, the Commission with the support of Frontex will strengthen the capacity of the Western Balkans’ partners in their migration management, fight against smuggling and ensuring security. Under the currently existing status agreements between Frontex and Albania, Serbia and Montenegro, deployment of the standing corps may only take place at the countries’ borders with the EU and without exercising executive powers. Under the new legal framework, the status agreement will allow Frontex standing corps to be deployed in the third country both at the EU border and at the borders with the third countries and exercise the executive powers. Therefore, new status agreements will better support and strengthen cooperation on border management in the Western Balkans.

Third generation of Young European Ambassadors from the Western Balkans join the network

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60 new leaders, activists and young voices from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia  joined the Young European Ambassadors Network. The Official Launch of the 3rd generation of the Young European Ambassadors event  was organised on 21 October in the 2022 European Youth Capital– Tirana, Albania, while all the regional partners and media were be able to follow the event with open-access on webalkans.eu, as well as WeBalkans and DG NEAR Facebook live.

 

The candidates were selected by Representatives of the European Commission, the WeBalkans team, and the Western Balkans Expert Jury made up of prominent activists, journalists, musicians, educators from the region.  Over 36,000 votes were cast from all over the region, showing that young people in the Western Balkans are eager, ready and willing to use the opportunities offered by the European Union and share them with their peers wherever they are.

 

The 60 winners will join the network of already 120 active YEAs who were selected in 2020 and 2021, thus making a total of 180 young people in the network who will take part in local and regional activism initiatives, EU programmes and projects, conferences, cultural events, and study trips in order to expand their skills and sphere of influence.

 

The names of selected YEAs will be published soon on the webalkans.eu

Statement by President von der Leyen on the occasion of her official visit to North Macedonia

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Thank you so much dear Prime Minister, dear Dimitar,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

It is so great to be back here in Skopje. And indeed, I vividly remember my last visit four months ago, when I came here to address the parliament of North Macedonia. As you can imagine, I also very clearly remember what we have promised on that day. And, yes, we have promised that if North Macedonia with its parliament is able to take the necessary steps, it would lead to the opening of accession negotiations. It would then start the screening process of the EU acquis, without any delay. And above all, that we would fully respect your identity and your language, that is the Macedonian language.

 

And I must say, dear Dimitar, that it took a lot of leadership, that you have shown, and it took the parliament of North Macedonia a lot of courage to cross that threshold. And I am so glad that you did. Because it led to that historic day of July, when we finally opened accession negotiations. Dear Prime Minister, as I promised, the screening of the acquis started immediately. It is now firmly on track and the negotiation process is gaining momentum. And there is very good work being done.

 

And finally, indeed, on your language: I promised you that we would get the Frontex agreement signed, translated into the Macedonian language. No footnote, no asterisk, on an equal footing with all the 24 languages of the European Union. And today, we delivered. As I said, there are 24 official languages in the European Union. I am deeply convinced that it will not take too long until we have 25 official languages. Because the Macedonian language is such a beautiful language. I really want to thank Commissioner Johansson for her tireless work on the agreement. And this agreement is not only very important because it strengthens our cooperation on migration but also because it shows that there can be no doubt that the Macedonian language is your language. And we fully respect that.

 

North Macedonia is now moving forward along the European path. That is what our latest enlargement report also shows. We have just published this enlargement report. And I must really congratulate you. It is amazing to see how determined you are moving forward: You have strengthened your democracy. You have strengthened your rule of law. You have made progress in the reform of your justice system. You are developing a solid market economy that has already proven its resilience. Congratulations on the progress, on the success so far. And I know that you are – and listening to you I am deeply convinced of it – determined to keep up the good speed, the good pace to move on on the path towards the European Union. And I am very aware that you are doing all this against a very challenging backdrop. That is Russia’s brutal war against our friends and neighbours in Ukraine. This war is bringing cruelty and destruction to the Ukrainian people. And it is sending shock waves through the entire world. As we all know and see, Russia is using energy, for example, as a weapon and it is heavily manipulating the energy market. This results in rising energy prices and in problems in security of supply. And, yes, North Macedonia has been affected, too. But rest assured: We are feeling the same pressure, but we will not give in, not a single centimetre.

 

Rest assured that the solidarity and unity we show in the European Union also means solidarity and unity with North Macedonia. Because we are in this together. And this means that we will solve this crisis and we will overcome this crisis together. We will keep supporting our friends in Ukraine. And we will be very strong and determined to make sure that here in the European Union there is the solidarity and the unity that we need. My message today to the citizens of North Macedonia is very clear: The European Union is by your side. We are in this together. We will go through this together and we will overcome this crisis together and move towards a better future. We are now putting forward an energy support package for the whole Western Balkan region. It begins with EUR 80 million in grants here for North Macedonia as immediate budget support. It will help address the impact of the high energy prices on your citizens and on your businesses. We will finalise this by the end of the year so that you can get the funding already in January. But of course, more will come. For example, there are EUR 500 million in grants for the whole region to invest in what is so necessary now to get our independence: to invest in energy connections; to invest in energy efficiency; and of course to invest in renewable energy. We have spoken about the fact that we need to be self-sufficient regarding energy. So, for example, the renewable energy that is home-grown, that creates good jobs here and that makes us independent of Russian fossil fuels.

 

This support – and more financial support – will be channelled under the so-called Economic and Investment Plan. As you know, the Investment Plan is already at work with investments in wind parks, for example, in solar power plants – I was very happy to hear that you are planning to intensify this work –, and with new gas interconnections between your country and Serbia and Kosovo that are also planned. Finally, it will also enable you to participate in the European joint procurement for pipeline gas and LNG. In the European Council, we have decided that we want to purchase gas on the global market together because this strengthens our purchasing power. We invite you, North Macedonia, to join us, to be with us, so that we go to the market together. And of course, you are also benefitting from all the decisions we have taken in the last days, the legal proposals that we have taken to reduce the prices of gas in the European Union, but more importantly the price of electricity, because we are in one Energy Union. And this means that whatever we do, we do it together. As I said, unity and solidarity.

 

Dear Dimitar, it was touching and moving to listen to you. The people of North Macedonia, and you and your government, and many people in this country, have shown so much commitment to European Union values. Therefore, I am indeed deeply convinced that you will move forward on your path to membership. You deserve to move forward on the path to membership. It was touching for me to listen to what you said about young people in North Macedonia. Yes, they are dreaming of Europe, but I am also deeply convinced that they are dreaming of North Macedonia in the European Union, a place where they want to shape the future of North Macedonia. You can rely on us and we know that we can rely on you. I know that you still have a way ahead of you. Because of the way I got to know you and the determination that I have seen, and this parliament I have spoken to, the people of North Macedonia that I have met, I am deeply convinced that you are able to make the dream of your young people in North Macedonia come true. Because let me tell you that I am deeply convinced that the European Union is not complete without North Macedonia. We want to have you with us. We are friends, we are partners. And one day, we are going to be together in one European Union.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Photo credits: European Union

Border management: EU signs agreement with North Macedonia

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On 26 October, the European Union and North Macedonia signed an agreement on operational cooperation in border management with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovačevski witnessed the signing of the agreement by Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and Czech Ambassador to North Macedonia Jaroslav Ludva representing the Czech Presidency of the Council, on behalf of the EU, and by Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, on behalf of North Macedonia.  
Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas said: “North Macedonia’s ever closer cooperation on migration is part of its EU path. The signature of this status agreement with Frontex is a strong testament to this. Migration is something we can only manage by working together.“  
Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said: “I am glad to sign this status agreement today as it will strengthen our cooperation on migration and border management. Frontex will be able to deploy standing corps teams to work hand in hand with border guards of North Macedonia, preventing cross-border crime, in particular smuggling and trafficking of human beings, and ensuring the security of the citizens of North Macedonia and the European Union.”  
Strengthened operational cooperation between Western Balkans partners and Frontex will contribute to addressing irregular migration and further enhance security at the EU’s external borders. Frontex already deploys around 300 officers in the region, including via joint operations at the Union’s external borders with Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia under the current status agreements. To ensure the implementation of the status agreement, an Operational Plan will be agreed directly between Frontex and the national authorities of North Macedonia. It will allow Frontex to assist North Macedonia in border management, carry out joint operations and deploy personnel both to the border with the EU, as well with borders of neighbouring Western Balkans partners. This will help to address increasing irregular migration and cross-border crime.