The ERGO network has launched a call for the most “Roma-Friendly Mayor” as part of the “Romani Women Power of Change in the Western Balkans and Turkey” project, implemented jointly by Roma Active Albania and the ERGO Network. The call is part of a wider campaign that aims to increase awareness of – and change attitudes towards – Roma inclusion, and contribute to overcoming the many barriers.
The award-winning mayors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey will participate in a special event in Brussels as part of Roma Week between 16 and 19 May, to meet a high representative from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement (DG NEAR).
The competition will be open until 15 April and an independent jury will be established in each country to select the winner of the contest based on set criteria. Romani Women Power of Change in the Western Balkans and Turkey project partners will carry out local information sessions to further brief interested municipalities on the campaign and competition.
The campaign and the competition are funded by the European Union.
A new taskforce will gather and analyse material to help understand disinformation trends relating to the war in Ukraine. The taskforce will focus on disinformation in EU and EEA countries, as well as the Western Balkans, collecting and sorting relevant material such as fact-checking, investigations, rapid analysis, and research on disinformation campaigns, as well as media literacy initiatives. The taskforce also aims to identify the datasets needed to understand disinformation campaigns.
The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) has already published a regularly updated list of online material with disinformation regarding the war. Such collections can inform policymakers, including the European Commission, to help understand the phenomenon of disinformation and contribute to an evidence-based decision-making process on the war in Ukraine.
The taskforce members will collaborate with national and regional EDMO hubs, small-scale online media projects and other relevant actors across Europe.
With EU funding, a start-up offers digital legal services.
How did the pandemic change your world? Many experts have argued that humans are prone to come up with new solutions to problems when they are thrown out of their routine and have time to work and develop an idea. This kind of innovation is exactly what happened with the start-up founded by Kristiana Filip, a young woman from Albania. Her idea to set up an online legal service was born during lockdown and has been developing ever since.
“I came to realise that many legal services can be automated, but that this service did not exist in Albania. During lockdown, I had time to think and come up with ideas on how to fix this problem.”
Efficient support to entrepreneurs comes through automation
As a young lawyer who had studied corporate law in Albania and abroad, Kristiana was growing frustrated by spending time on simple legal services that kept her focus away from more important issues.
“I came to realise that many legal services can be automated, but that this service did not exist in Albania. During lockdown, I had time to think and come up with ideas on how to fix this problem,” she says.
Legit, the start-up Kristiana founded, is a digital platform that aims to provide high-quality, fast and easily accessible legal services for Albanian entrepreneurs. The platform enables the creation of legal documents such as an employment contract, an authorisation, or a property lease. Users are asked to respond to a short questionnaire and then their personalised legal document is ready in just a few minutes. The other key feature of the platform is its matchmaking function for contracting legal professionals.
“Legit’s digital services are unique in Albania and, I believe, in the whole Western Balkans region.” Kristiana says with enthusiasm of her approach that is based on western market models. From the start, she has also targeted the Kosovo market, where there are similar laws and Albanian spoken as a primary language.
Kristiana’s platform also has a section dedicated to informing young entrepreneurs and founders about incubation, acceleration and funding opportunities, and legal guidance is provided in Legit’s blog posts.
“The EU support is really welcome since it fills a gap left by the market and the institutions who are yet to put in place a special fund for start-ups.”
About the project
EU for Innovation seeks to improve the innovative ecosystem and boost the creation of start-ups in Albania through capacity development for innovation among innovation ecosystem actors; building connections within the Albanian innovation ecosystem; and funding for innovative start-ups and innovation support providers.
Start-ups like Legit have benefited from the Challenge Fund, a competitive financing facility used as a means of addressing the issue of access to finance for innovative companies at an early stage of development, as well as for organisations engaged in services to innovative start-ups and promotion of the Albanian innovation system.
Go for what you believe in
Born as an idea during lockdown, Legit has progressed to now being ready for launch. The process of setting up the business was not easy, and Kristiana has published all the challenges in an eBook to set out all the legal elements required. A grant through the EU for Innovation initiative in 2021, provided capacity development and the technical expertise to develop and promote the platform in March 2022.
“The EU support is really welcome since it fills a gap left by the market and the institutions who are yet to put in place a special fund for start-ups,” explains Kristiana.
She sees the need for continuous work to improve unmet legal needs more effectively so her learning and ideas for improving the Legit platform do not end here. The start-up aims to grow together with experts who will develop its products further. Kristiana says that she is inclined to invite women to join her in the start-up journey, despite her acknowledgement that she grew as a lawyer and entrepreneur by learning mostly from men.
Kristiana’s advice for young women who want to engage in business or further develop their careers: “Just go for what you believe in! #NoRegrets.”
In his address, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi outlined theEuropean Union’s plans to increase economic support to the region to €30 billion in the coming years. Implemented in partnership with institutional and private investors, the financing aims to speed up the region’s social and economic convergence with the EU and is expected to boost its gross domestic product by 3.6%.
“Europe does not end at Zagreb or Budapest,” Mr Várhelyi said. “The Western Balkans naturally belong here too.”
In their speeches and answers to investors’ questions, the heads of government summarised their investment priorities. All leaders spoke of plans to develop renewable energy sources, which require a regional energy system to balance the inflow of renewables into national grids and, in some countries, a change of legislation to enable large-scale private investment.
Today’s event was the fifth EBRD summit of its kind. The inaugural Western Balkans Summit which brought together all the region’s prime ministers for the first time, took place at EBRD headquarters in London in February 2014.
This brochure presents an overview of the 21 projects endorsed by the European Commission in February 2022 to support transport, digital, climate and energy connectivity and health infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans. This is the first major package of project unveiled under the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan for the region, and will be channelled through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) platform.
This factsheet provides a summary of the €3.2 billion investment package endorsed by the European Commission in February 2022 to support 21 projects in the Western Balkans. This is the first major package of project unveiled under the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan for the region.
Six Serbian military doctors and staff will be joining the EU Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM S). The Mission was launched in 2010, with the aim of strengthening Somali federal defence institutions through training, mentoring and advice. It consists of approximately 200 personnel from seven EU Member States, plus Serbia.
EU ambassador to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, thanked the Serbian soldiers who will leave on mission, wishing them good luck. He said: “We are grateful and proud to be able to count on Serbia in our civilian and military missions and operations. Freedom, democracy and security come at a high price, and Serbian personnel is filling the key roles essential for the success of such missions. EU soldiers have the privilege of being in the safe hands of the Serbian medical team. We hope our partnership will grow and deepen, for the sake of expanding global security and stability.”
The role of Serbia’s medical contingent as part of this mission is treatment, evacuation, resupply, and functions essential to the maintenance of the health of the force. It includes the provision of first aid, immediate lifesaving measures, and triage. Additionally, it will contribute to the health and well-being of the unit through guidance in the prevention of disease, non-battle injuries, and operational stress.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the bank of the European Union, has signed a €20 million loan under its new branch, EIB Global. Through Intesa Sanpaolo Banka BiH, the loan aims to foster youth employment, gender equality and socially inclusive practices among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps (companies with a capitalisation of between €2 million and €10 million).
These funds will enable Intesa Sanpaolo BiH to on-lend to local companies that are committed to improving the social impact of their businesses and creating long-term leadership and employment opportunities for women, young people and segments of the population that face higher entry barriers in the labour market.
This innovative loan includes a performance-based reward mechanism for companies that meet specific targets to foster leadership, employment and professional development opportunities for women, young people and vulnerable groups (e.g. people with disabilities, refugees, etc.). Under this incentive scheme, tailor-made social impact objectives will be agreed with each company benefiting from the EIB financing. A financial reward, matching the level of social impact generated, will be distributed to those who meet these targets.
The reward mechanism will be financed via a €3.3 million grant provided under the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative Fund, aimed at boosting job creation and sustainable and inclusive private sector growth. A comprehensive technical assistance programme will be created to support the project’s implementation and the achievement of the social impact objectives agreed with SMEs and mid-caps.
This will be the sixth cooperation between the EIB and Intesa Sanpaolo BiH in support of the private sector in BiH which has resulted in the disbursement of over €238 million and provided support to 339 companies so far. To date, the EIB has provided €860 million to the private sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has helped sustain close to 100,000 jobs.
Twenty-seven new Erasmus Mundus joint master’s programmes will offer scholarships to students from the Western Balkans and elsewhere around the world. These are the first under Erasmus+ for 2021-2027.
The first intake of students will start this year and these newly-selected programmes make a total of more than 170 programmes available in the Erasmus Mundus catalogue. Almost €127 million has been invested in these new programmes, with support for over 2,000 scholarships for students from all over the world. During the 17 years of Erasmus Mundus joint master’s programmes, more than 28,000 students from 195 countries have been awarded scholarships to study in 566 programmes.
Joint programmes blend the best teaching from different universities, often combining different faculties and disciplines. Students study in two or more partner universities over two years. Most of them also have a company or organisation placement to gain practical experience. Students therefore graduate with the right skills and international outlook to equip them for a career as practitioners, administrators or researchers in key and/or niche sectors.
On 17 February, works commenced on the 400 kV transmission line that starts from the Bitola 2 transformer station and connects the power transmission systems of North Macedonia and Albania. The project has exceptional regional strategic and capital value as it completes the process of connecting North Macedonia to the power transmission systems of all the neighbouring countries, adding to the five 400 kV interconnections already operational – two connections with Greece and one each with Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia.
This transmission line is part of thelarger capital project of €50 millionfor the interconnection of North Macedonia with Albania, including the construction of a transformer station near Ohrid which started in August, as well as the expansion of the Bitola 2 400/110 kV transformer station. In the context of the entire east-west power chain, the Bitola-Elbasan interconnection transmission line is the key link in the transit of electricity from Bulgaria through North Macedonia and Albania to Italy.
The new transmission line will provide improved and affordable energy supply to residents and businesses in North Macedonia by normalising voltage levels, stabilising load flow and frequency fluctuations, and decreasing technical losses in the overall transmission system. This Western Balkans Investment Framework project is expected to be completed in 2023.
