The Delegation of the European Union to Albania launched a new communication campaign on EU support to Albania. Building on last year’s Europe Is Here campaign, this new wave will inform citizens about the EU’s financial assistance to Albania, especially in key sectors such as education, health, innovation, agriculture and culture.
Dedicated to the EU’s contribution to the education sector in Albania, the launch event of the Europe Is Here 2.0 campaign took place at the Polytechnic University of Tirana, UPT, in the presence of EU Ambassador Luigi Soreca.
In his remarks, Ambassador Soreca said: “Investing in young people is key to taking Albania forward on its EU path. This year we chose to start our ‘Europe Is Here’ awareness-raising campaignwith education because of the importance the EU attaches to this key sector and the substantial funding it provides to Albania through programmes for education and youth.“’Europe Is Here’ because we want to continue our conversations with you onhow the EU is helping Albania to get closer to the European Union, improving the life of Albanians every day whileproviding wide opportunities to Albanian youth: to be engaged, to be connected, to be empowered.”
In addition to the well-knownErasmus+ exchange programme, the European Union has invested over €100 million in education in Albania over the last ten years, mostly in vocational education and training and inclusive education as well as the renovation and reconstruction of educational facilities.
Thirty-five contracts for purchased apartments have been delivered to refugee families from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia who live in the Belgrade area in Serbia. The event to mark this achievement was attended by Nikola Selaković, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, and Emanuele Giaufret, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, among others.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted that to date more than 6,000 families from the former Yugoslavia have received homes thanks to the Regional Housing Programme (RHP) in Serbia.
Ambassador Giaufret stated that the RHP showed how successful regional cooperation can be, stressing the EU’s intention to support the RHP until the end. He also recognised the strong commitment of the Serbian government to providing permanent solutions to all families involved in the RHP, despite all the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. He concluded by saying that from all the projects the EU has funded in Serbia, the ones that bring the greatest joy are those focused on people – their rights, their dignity and their happiness. Respect for human dignity and human rights, as well as equality and freedom, are among the European Union’s fundamental values.
Almost €291 million has been allocated so far to the Regional Housing Programme. With €235 million, the European Union is the main donor to the Programme.
Editors and representatives of media civil society organisations (CSOs) from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey met in Njivice, Montenegro on 13-16 October to discuss the role of editors in restoring media trust. The meeting, organised within the EU-funded ‘Resilience’ project, provided a platform for media professionals to exchange experiences on sustaining media operations that promote high-quality journalism. Constructive journalism, cross-border collaboration, countering the spread of online disinformation, and hate speech were among the topics discussed.
Stefan Janjić, the editor-in-chief at Fake News Tragač from Serbia explained that the process of countering disinformation in his country usually required countering hate speech as well. “Based on our archive, 42% of false content contains some kind of hate speech or toxic narrative. Most often this is about neighbouring nations – the absolute champions are Albanians, then Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina – and we also have migrants and the LGBT+ population,” explained Janjić. During the Editors’ Forum participants watched three documentaries about the role of the media in shaping our reality: Patka, Collective and Junk Folder.
The regional programme ‘Resilience: Civil society action to reaffirm media freedom and counter disinformation and hateful propaganda in the Western Balkans and Turkey’ is implemented with the support of the European Union.
Student videos documenting the experiences of the generation that lived through the wars of the 1990s are being published online. This is part of a Balkan investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) programme intended to nurture oral history through storytelling that illuminates transitional justice issues. Twenty videos in which war survivors tell their personal stories have been posted on YouTube for public viewing. They were produced by students as part of a BIRN mentoring scheme entitled Youth Memory Transfer.
The videos are the result of a training and mentoring programme that included an interactive workshop at which young participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia examined truth-seeking, fact-checking and transitional justice reporting as an exercise in storytelling. As a part of the workshop, the students conducted independent research related to each survivor’s history in their local community in order to gain deeper background knowledge of subjects’ personal stories.
The programme gave the students a better understanding of the history of the break-up of Yugoslavia, by documenting the stories of people who lived through it. Through the videos published online it also provides the public with insights into the experiences of the generation that lived through the wars of the 1990s. The videos were produced with the support of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and the European Union.
The EU in Serbia has launched a project focusing on equal access to and completion of pre-university education for children in need of additional support in education. The project, worth €4.7 million, will support inclusive education through further development of the legal framework, training of education professionals, enhancing the quality of learning, and additional support to children and teachers in mainstream schools.
It will do this by developing an enabling environment and procuring equipment to facilitate learning, reaching about 1,000 children in need of additional support in education. The project aims to have a direct impact on the further development and improvement of inclusive education by reaching a minimum of 10% of Serbia’s schools and strengthening the skills of 4,000 professionals in education and other areas, as well as about 1,000 professionals in inter-sectoral committees.
Planned activities include supporting the development of professional learning communities and mentoring support to education professionals through model schools for inclusive education, the work of specialist advisers, and the operation of 20 inclusive education networks in participating municipalities. The project will also contribute to the establishment of three resource centres and the procurement of assistive technologies to support students with disabilities, and will support the activities of the National Coalition for Inclusive Education.
The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) in Albania organised a two-day training course in Tirana this month on mobile journalism (MOJO). Seventeen young journalists and journalism students participated in the workshop delivered by Norbert Šinković, an experienced trainer on multimedia and mobile journalism. The training provided the students with the core techniques of reporting and storytelling on mobile, web and other online platforms.
The trainees learned how to create quality journalism content using mobile devices, with skills training for producing high-quality photos and video, audio, and editing for social media, web, and other platforms. The intensive course was designed to provide young journalists with the key skills of journalism using mobile phones.
This activity is organised as part of the Using Big Data and Multimedia to Boost Quality and Independent Journalism in Albania project co-funded by the European Union and Swedish government and implemented by BIRN.
The European Union is supporting the development of broadband infrastructure in Montenegro through a €550,000 technical assistance project. This aims to improve the country’s coverage by improving infrastructure for fixed internet. The project began in July last year, with initial steps including an assessment of the existing situation and an investigation of telecom operator infrastructure plans for the next three years.
The results of the study were presented at the ‘Deployment of Next Generation Networks in Montenegro’ workshop held in Podgorica on 29 September. The purpose of the workshop was to inform stakeholders including as telecom operators, municipalities, and utility companies, and gather views and input in order to enable the effective deployment of Next Generation Networks in the coming years.
The project is funded by the European Union through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), in cooperation with the European Investment Bank. The lead international financing institution and potential lender for the implementation of the project is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ekaterina Dorodnova, handed over 150,000 syringes and 48,000 safety boxes for medical waste to the Bosnian authorities on 15 October. This is the first of five deliveries of vaccination consumables that will be distributed to healthcare institutions across the country.
“This equipment is part of our assistance to support vaccination against Covid-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has been procured under the EU4Health programme. The EU4Health programme is funded by the European Union, with €13.7 million allocated for the procurement of vaccines and equipment to support the fight against Covid-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Together with its Member States, the EU has so far delivered a total of 1.3 million vaccine doses to Bosnia and Herzegovina to speed up the vaccination campaign,” Dorodnova said.
The EU has also provided €7.76 million for the procurement of medical and protective equipment, which has been delivered to healthcare institutions across the country.
An EU co-funded programme has supported a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina to start a new life in his native village
The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina brought tragedy for hundreds of thousands of families. Many lost their loved ones or their jobs and had to leave their hometowns and villages, never to come back. Davorin Savić from the village of Bačevići, near Mostar, is one of those who had to leave his house overnight and find refuge elsewhere. However, Davorin is also one of the lucky ones who has managed to come back to his village and start a new life there.
The city of Mostar was one of the many multi-ethnic towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina where Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs lived in harmony. However, this harmony was ruined with the start in 1992 of the war which lasted until 1995. Thousands of people were killed and it is estimated that over a million people were displaced, making it the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War.
“It was difficult to live as a refugee but we managed to survive somehow. We rented somewhere to live, and I mostly worked at the local market with low pay.”
Finally, back home
The conflict in Mostar started and developed swiftly, and along with his family, Davorin had to move fast, leaving their house and belongings back in the village. As they were ethnic Serbs, they moved to Serbia. The memories are still fresh for Davorin of how in 1992 he left his family home, together with his brother and mother, to flee to Belgrade. “It was difficult to live as refugees,” he recalls. “But we managed to survive somehow. We rented somewhere to live, and I mostly worked at the local market with low pay.”
He lived in Belgrade for 18 years but in 2010 the family finally returned to Bačevići, where they were distraught to find that their home had been completely demolished. However, their luck was about to change. “We met some neighbours who told us about programme that reconstructed houses for returnees,” Davorin says. “We quickly submitted an application to the Regional Housing Programme.”
Davorin admits that life in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not easy, especially for returnees and internally displacedpeople. Though he had worked in the power plant company before the war, he was unable to find a job in thecompany on his return to BiH. He still does not have a job with a secure salary or health insurance.
“I never imagined that I would come back to my village and produce vegetables in a greenhouse and cultivate land.”
About the project
Around 1,800 housing units have been delivered to date in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the Regional Housing Programme. The final target is for more than 3,000 housing units to be constructed by June 2023. Almost €291million has been allocated so far to the Regional Housing Programme, of which more than €76 million is for projects in BiH. With €235 million, the European Union is the main donor to the Programme.
Nevertheless, despite the odds, Davorin manages to ensure a dignified life for himself, his mother and the family of his brother, who passed away last year. This is in large part thanks to the house rebuilt with the support of the Regional Housing Programme and the greenhouse and small tractor provided with the support of Catholic Relief Services. “I never imagined that I would come back to my village and produce vegetables in a greenhouse and cultivate land,” he laughs. “But it’s great. I sell my products at the market in Mostar.”
Reflecting on his life today, Davorin is also quick to comment on the friendliness of his neighbours from different ethnic groups. In contrast to the situation when he had to flee Bačevići, now he says, “We live together, help each other and celebrate all holidays.”
A young Serbian farmer fulfils a childhood dream with the EU’s support.
Milan Plavšić (35) lives in Sremska Mitrovica in the province of Vojvodina, in the north of Serbia. He comes from a family with a long tradition in agriculture, but in contrast to his father and grandfather, Milan had the opportunity to graduate from the agricultural faculty in Novi Sad. His aim is to take the family business to another level. “I have been used to agriculture since my childhood. I just love it and have never thought of doing other work,” says Milan.
Vojvodina is known for its rich soil which has for centuries been ideal for agricultural crops like maize, wheat, soya, and sunflowers. The province is the biggest producer and exporter of field crops in the Western Balkans region. Like Milan, most people in the region work in agriculture but, despite the advantage of having good soil, farmers are facing some serious difficulties. “Some of the small agricultural households with two to three acres of land are either selling their land or renting it to bigger producers as they are unable to invest in new technology and purchase equipment for modern farming,” he says.
“The old tractor started to become a real problem, as it was not working properlyanymore and we couldn’t manage to meet deadlines or produce the necessary quantities of crops.”
A new tractor, better business opportunities With his 20 acres of land, Milan considers himself to be a medium-size producer but he, too, has had difficulties. Having a tractor is crucial for his work, and the one that the family owned was purchased back in 1987. Milan remembers the joy of first driving this tractor when he was only 12 years old. But over the years, the machine started to show its age. “The old tractor started to become a real problem, as it was not working properly anymore and we couldn’t manage to meet deadlines or produce the necessary quantities of crops,” says Milan.
The family knew they needed to invest in a new tractor, which can cost up to €70,000 – a very expensive piece of equipment for a business of their size. They did not have enough money to invest and taking a loan of this amount seemed too risky and costly over the longer-term. But without the new equipment, their business would be seriously threatened.
They had a glimmer of hope when Milan heard about the EU-funded Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) programme which supports agriculture in Serbia and the region. Seeing that he fulfilled the criteria, Milan decided to apply for support. The application was successful, and the family was able to buy a new tractor.
“With the new tractor that we got with the EU’s support, I can now work faster and more safely and have better quality crops.”
About the project
Part of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) designed to support countries on the path to EU membership, the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) focuses on the agri-food sectors of those countries and rural areas. Through this tool, the EU provides beneficiaries with financial and technical help to make the agricultural sector and rural areas more sustainable, aligning them with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.
The IPARD programme supported Milan’s family with over 50% of the amount for purchasing the new tractor. The family covered the rest of the amount with a loan from a bank, which was easier to get as a result of the IPARD support, and from their savings. “With the new tractor that we got with the EU’s support, I can now work faster and more safely and produce better quality crops,” says Milan.
Milan has a vision for further expanding as he has the quality land and the market. Most importantly, he now also has a new Steyr tractor, just the tractor that he dreamed of when he was a boy. “The dream of every young boy living in an agricultural household is to buy a new tractor. It was also my dream. With the EU’s support, this dream has come true,” says Milan.
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