The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has announced that it will host the EU-Balkan Youth Forum in Rome from 22 to 26 November. The Forum will gather students from all over Europe to discuss shared challenges of the future of Europe and membership of the Western Balkans.
Organised by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) as lead partner, other organising partners include the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) based in Tirana, the Centro Studi Politica Internazionale (Rome) and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento). The Forum will bring together 33 countries, 78 students, ten mentors and policy makers from across Europe, to gather new perspectives and chart a common path for further action. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio will attend the final session and report the results to the Conference on the Future of Europe.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will also set aside funds for the network to develop future projects based on the conclusions of the Forum on institutional, economic and social issues.
Applications are welcome from university students from all EU Member States and the Western Balkan region, with a proven interest in EU integration and social activism. The agenda and application form are available at www.eubalkanforum.org. The deadline for applications is 15 October.
A new EU-funded project worth €1.3 million has been launched to support the preparation of Flood Risk Management Plans and Strategic Environmental Assessments for the four river basins – Zapadna, Južna and Velika Morava, and Kolubara in Serbia. Technical assistance is being offered in support of the Central Serbia Flood Risk Management Project which will contribute significantly to the management of flood risk, in line with the EU Floods Directive, and to the reduction in damage caused by flooding.
A team of international and national experts from Infrastructure Project Facility IPF10 will support the project implementation unit established within the Public Water Management Company (PWMC) Srbijavode, to develop the plans and thereby facilitate considerable strategic investment. The total costs for the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) “Flood Risk Management Programme for Central Serbia” project are estimated at €250 million, with financing through a €221 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The remaining project costs will be covered by a national contribution of approximately €27.5 million and the €1.3 million EU technical assistance grant through the WBIF.
The EU awards have the overall goal of celebrating and promoting the outstanding achievements of investigative journalists from the Western Balkan countries and Turkey, as well as improving the visibility of quality investigative journalism in these countries. Stories published between 2018 and 2020 have been awarded prizes for investigative journalism through the “Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey” EU-funded project in 2019, 2020, and 2021. The project covers the EU candidate and potential candidate countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.
Twelve students and young professionals from Prishtina/Priština, Vushtrri/Vučitrn and North Mitrovica attended a masterclass on graphic design basics, organised at Europe House North Mitrovica and led by graphic designer Aleksandar Kasalović.
Aleksandra, a 17 year old student in North Mitrovica, was one of the participants. She said that the masterclass was of real help to her. “I really enjoyed this masterclass because it prepared us for the real world – for example how to deal with customers, how to set our priorities and create a name for ourselves, and how to be unique and creative.”
The graphic design basics masterclass was financed by the European Union Office in Kosovo.
A programme co-funded by the EU offers a Croatian refugee a new home and life in Serbia
Mira Mihajlović (43) grew up with her father, mother and a younger brother in a village near Karlovac in Croatia. She had a happy childhood and studied tourism at high school and dreamed of becoming a tourism manager. Her life changed with the start of the war in 1995 when Mira was 17. “It was horrible; we didn’t know how to react, but our gut feeling said that we needed to move – to run,” says Mira.
So Mira and her family took to the road. Initially, they joined a refugee convoy and as they did not have vehicle, they were helped by a neighbour who had a tractor. Eventually, they ran out of fuel, and had to continue by foot for a few more days. While walking through the forest, Mira’s brother – who was only 13 – got separated from them so they had to turn back. Luckily, they found him but Mira says that her brother had problems and nightmares for some time afterwards because of this experience.
“I did not have much faith that I would be supported to get a house of my own. Actually, I did not believe it at all.”
When they first came to Serbia, Mira and her family lived in collective centres for refugees and worked in the corn fields, cleaned houses and chopped wood to earn a living. After a while, Mira got married, but the marriage did not work out, and two years later she divorced. She went back to live with her family. “It was very hard. It was difficult to find a job, and we had to pay rent and cover other expenses,” she says.
She moved out again, and settled with her young son in the village of Ratar close to Obrenovac. She was lucky to find a job as a cleaning lady in a nearby school, but it was still difficult to cover their rent with her salary.
Mira heard from a neighbour that the Regional Housing Programme (RHP) was helping refugees and people who have been displaced from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with housing problems. She decided to apply for their help, although she was very sceptical about the prospect of getting a roof over her head. “I did not have much faith that I would be supported to get a house of my own. Actually, I did not believe it at all,” she says.
Positive future ahead
The Regional Housing Programme, of which the EU is the main donor, responded positively to Mira’s request. They said they could offer Mira an apartment, or, if she had land, the project would support her in building a house on it. Mira chose a third option, where the programme helped her purchase the house where she was already living as a tenant.
“For the first time in my life I have something of my own. I am really happy and relaxed. I fall asleep peacefully when I go to bed.”
About the project
The Regional Housing Programme (RHP) is a joint initiative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. The RHP aims to contribute to the resolution of the protracted displacement situation of the most vulnerable refugees and displaced people following the 1991-1995 conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
Based on the current pledges of the international donor community, by the end of 2022, the RHP should have provided a durable housing solution for 11,800 of the most vulnerable families – meaning over 36,000 people in the four partner countries. The total cost of these projects is €291 million, out of which €237 million (80%) will have been financed by the RHP donors and the remaining €54 million (20%) from the partner countries. With €235 million, the European Union is the main donor to the Programme.
When she finally bought the house, her life changed radically for the better with relief from the burden of rent. With support from Catholic Relief Services, she was also able to build a greenhouse in her garden where she grows vegetables which she sells in the local market for additional income. “For the first time in my life I have something of my own. I am really happy and relaxed. I fall asleep peacefully when I go to bed,” says Mira.
Mira says she looks positively to the future. Part of her plans include opening a small shop in the barn in her garden, as the village does not have a shop, and this would be a way to earn the income to provide a better future for her son. Now that she feels her luck has changed, she believes that she may get further support from donors for her enterprise.
Closing the loop: an EU-funded project introduces a textile recycling concept in Kosovo
In Kosovo it is very rare to come across bins for separated waste, and recycling is mainly carried out by individual rubbish-pickers who collect metal, cardboard and plastic waste from regular garbage bins, and sell it on. However, thanks to an NGO called Let’s Do It Peja, the collection of textile waste has taken off in Peja, a town in western Kosovo. Arba Shehu is a young and passionate environmental activist who along with her colleagues at the NGO have identified this problem early on, and decided to contribute to a solution. They launched the “Promoting circular economy as a sustainable model for social enterprise development – SEREC” project, which is funded by the EU. Now Arba is the manager of the project.
Arba explains that the idea for it came because of the volume of textile waste generated and because public institutions have failed to develop a sustainable waste collection and management system in Peja or elsewhere in Kosovo. According to her, most local waste ends up in legal and illegal landfills, the vast majority of which do not comply with basic environmental and health standards. “Although the legal framework is partially streamlined with that of the EU, waste remains one of the most significant problems in Kosovo,” says Arba.
“Although the legal framework is partially streamlined with that of the EU, waste remains one of the most significant problems in Kosovo.”
Producing fashion from waste
The project started in January this year, with the NGO placing a textile collection point in the centre of the city. To the delight of the project team, local residents are responding to the call for sharing their textile waste through such collection points.
The project is based on the so-called “3R” (“Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”) concept. However, apart from its environmental contribution, the project also has an economic angle as they have opened a second-hand shop to sell the donated textiles that are in good condition.
Arba believes that there can be no long-term impact if younger generations are not involved actively. Therefore, the education component of the project is seen as the most important one by her and her colleagues. In cooperation with the art high school in Peja, Let’s Do It Peja have launched an extracurricular design course where young students, mentored by experienced fashion designers hired by the project, work on designing and making new clothing using the collected textile waste. Arba explains that this is the most exciting part of the project for her: “The students are very passionate, and we have seen them come up with very interesting and attractive models.”
“I am very grateful to be part of the EU-funded SEREC project. I am learning many new things and expanding my professional horizons with new knowledge about the fashion industry.”
About the project
The EU-funded “Promoting circular economy as a sustainable model for social enterprise development – SEREC” project was launched in January and will end in December 2021. The overall goal of the project is to support the development of social enterprises in Kosovo and enhance the employment of disadvantaged groups, primarily women and youth, through the application of circular economy concepts.
Yllka Latifi is one of the students participating in the extracurricular course launched by the project. She says, “I am very grateful to be part of the EU-funded SEREC project. I am learning many new things and expanding my professional horizons with new knowledge about the fashion industry.”
The SEREC project aims to be self-sustaining and continue with the activities even after the EU funding ends. The Let’s Do It Peja NGO is currently working on registering and launching a social enterprise with the 3R concept and name. In this way they aim to ensure sustainability by turning this project into an enterprise with long-term economic and environmental benefit for the community.
The new social enterprise will aim to hire staff who will work on designing and sewing the recycled textiles as well as people to work in the second-hand shop. “In this way we aim to help people in need, as the new employees of the social enterprise will primarily come from vulnerable groups such as women, young people and minorities,” says Arba.
On 15 September, seven newdecisions entered into force, meaning that COVID-19 certificates issued by Albania, Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Israel, Monaco, Morocco and Panama are equivalent tothe EU’s digital COVID certificate. As a result, the seven countries and territories will be connected to the EU’s system, and the COVID certificates they issue will be accepted in the EU under the same conditions as EU digital COVID certificates. At the same time, the countries and territories agreed to accept theEU digital COVID certificatefor travel from the EU to their countries.
Commissioner for Justice, DidierReynders, said:“During this summer we have seen that citizens are able to travel safely thanks to the EU digital COVID certificate. This is a win-win situation: citizens can enjoy their right to free movement, and businesses – as well as the transport sector – can start making up for the losses of past months. Since June, more than 420 million EU certificates have been issued. I therefore welcome more and more countries outside the EU joining our successful system. A total number of 42 countries – 27 EU Member States and 15 non-EU countries – are now taking part in the EU’s digital COVID certificate system, confirming the EU certificate as an international standard.”
Twenty-four institutes for public health across Serbia have received specialised vehicles for the transport of vaccines and medical teams, thanks to the support of the European Union. The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret, attended the handover of vehicles equipped with portable refrigerators and additional equipment that enables the distribution of vaccines while providing a cold chain. With these, vaccines can be made available in remote health stations and reach more people.
The EU is also continuing financial support for the employment of 200 health workers engaged in 23 health institutions in Serbia for a new period of three months, providing the additional human resources needed in the fight against COVID-19. This support, worth close to €1.2 million, is part of a larger package of EU aid totalling over €10 million in medical and non-medical equipment delivered during this and previous years in partnership with the UNOPS office in Serbia.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the European Union has supported Serbia in the fight against the spread of the virus with more than €77 million, of which €20.7 million was spent on urgent support and the most pressing needs to strengthen the health system in Serbia both in crisis and during regular functioning.
With European Investment Bank financing, Sarajevo’s tram network gets new vehicles for the first time in 40 years.
While Sarajevo was under Austro-Hungarian administration, the city was used as a testing area for new inventions before they were installed in Vienna. The Sarajevo tramway was launched as a test line on New Year’s Day 1885,making the Sarajevo tram network one of the oldest in Europe.
The tram network continued in operation for over a century, including during difficult times such as the First and Second World Wars. During the Siege of Sarajevo of 1992-1995, trackwork and numerous vehicles were badly damaged but although the tram operation stopped for part of the siege, service resumed in April 1994. Since then, the tram network has been facing difficulties, with most of the vehicles approximately 40 years old.
“Many of the tram vehicles that I drive are the same ones that I used to travel with when I was a child, 40 years ago!”
Reducing congestion, increasing safety
Hidajet Šarić is 46 years old. He has been working as a tram driver for the Sarajevo tram network for over 20 years. He remembers when he was a schoolboy travelling to and from school by tram. “Many of the trams that I drive are the same ones that I used to travel on when I was a child,” he says. Hidajet explains that the last time that new vehicles were bought was just before the Winter Olympic Games that were held in Sarajevo in 1984.
Over the years, the city purchased some second-hand trams and worked on maintenance and upgrading, but the existing fleet is far from the quality of the trams used in other cities in Europe and beyond. Hidajet explains that he and his colleagues every now and then have technical issues when the trams break down and need to be towed for maintenance. This is a dangerous procedure as they have to be driven backwards, including round difficult turns without good visibility which poses a serious risk of accident. He adds that the passenger experience is not always good enough, as the trams do not have air conditioning.
However, these problems are about to end with the support of the European Investment Bank (EIB) – the lending arm of the European Union – which has offered €40 million for the modernisation of Sarajevo’s public transport. These improvements will significantly increase safety and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the surrounding municipalities.
“The new system and vehicles equipped with the latest technology will help us increase the number of passengers using public transport, and decrease traffic congestion in the city while creating a cleaner and greener Sarajevo.”
About the project
The EIB has provided €40 million for the urban transport network in the Canton of Sarajevo. The financing, provided on the most favourable terms, will enable modernisation and extension of the tram and trolley bus networks by replacing existing vehicles and building new tramlines. The establishment of a more efficient and reliable public transit system is expected to enable a shift of passengers from private to public transport.
As a result, it will help to reduce commute times, greenhouse gas emissions, noise levels and the number of traffic accidents in the Canton of Sarajevo. The project will contribute to the fulfilment of the EU Strategy for the Western Balkans and the EIB’s climate action goals for the region relating to sustainable transport.
Sarajevo, like other cities in the Western Balkans, has some serious problems with air pollution. This is in part a result of increased use of vehicles for commuting, in particular during the winter season. Adnan Steta, Sarajevo Canton’s Minister of Transport, explains that the idea for the project to modernise the city’s public transport mainly came out of the need to reduce air pollution in the city. He welcomes this investment and support from the European Investment Bank. “The new system and vehicles equipped with the latest technology will help us increase the number of passengers using public transport, and decrease traffic congestion in the city while creating a cleaner and greener Sarajevo,” he says.
On 18 September, the Young European Ambassadors (YEA) from the Western Balkans participated together with other volunteers, the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) in Albania, and the Civil Society Organisation EDEN in the EU Beach Clean-Up event in Durres, Albania. The activity was organised as part of the World Clean-up Day campaign.
As part of the action, YEA, along with other participants, collected over 70 bags of waste and contributed to the clean up of the beaches in Durres. At the opening event, the Head of Political, Economic, and Information Section at the EU Delegation in Tirana, Mr Alexis Hupin, thanked all participants who contributed and supported the Coastal Clean-up Initiative, while highlighting the urgency and significance of keeping our oceans plastic-free.
#EUBeachCleanup is an ocean awareness and activism campaign organised yearly by the EU in September, featuring events across the world. As part of the campaign, through its global network of EU delegations (“embassies”) and representations in EU member states, the EU reaches out to citizens worldwide, creating awareness about the issue and encouraging people to take care of seas and oceans. The campaign is part of a global UN initiative: Act Now.
The YEA network launched in August 2020 together with 60 change-makers coming from: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The network promotes diversity while sharing a common vision: learning about one another and the European Union, pursuing creative projects, acquiring new skills, organising inspiring events – always guided by the idea that youth activism is the most powerful tool for social change.
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