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Author: WeBalkans

Western Balkans Digital Summit opens in Podgorica

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in News.

The EU is once again supporting the biggest digital event in the region – the Western Balkans Digital Summit (WBDS) – the fourth consecutive annual event on regional digital cooperation. This year, WBDS is hosted by the Montenegrin government and is being held in hybrid mode from 11 to 13 October, closing with a ministerial panel in Podgorica.

 

This series of events have produced significant results, notably the second Digital Summit marked by the signing of the Regional Roaming Agreement. This led to the roaming-free Western Balkans as of 1 July 2021. This year’s WBDSwill cover four main platforms: Network and Services Connectivity, Trust and Security, Digital Skills, and the Digital Economy.

 

This Summit brings together high-level representatives from the governments of the Western Balkan economies, the European Commission, the Regional Cooperation Council, the business community and other relevant stakeholders, and will end on 13 October with a panel including Olivér Várhelyi, EU Enlargement Commissioner.

 

The first ever Western Balkans Digital Summit was held in Skopje in April 2018, while the second took place in Belgrade in 2019 and the third in Tirana last year. The summits are held in the framework of the Berlin Process and the Common Regional Market Action Plan for the Western Balkans adopted in Sofia in November 2020.

The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III)

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Publications.

The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) supports EU candidate countries and potential candidates in adopting and implementing key political, institutional, social and economic reforms to reflect the EU’s values and to align with its rules, standards and policies. This factsheet provides a summary of the support provided by the IPA III programme.

EU supports helpline to safeguard children in Albania

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Albania’s national child helpline – ALO 116 111 – has launched a web-based reporting platform, “Raporto Tani” (“Report it Now”), with the help of Unicef Albania and the European Union. The portal is the first of its kind in Albania and allows reporting of any violation of a child’s rights at any time of day and from anywhere in Albania. All children and adolescents in Albania will now be able to report any case of violence, abuse, or bullying via the online www.alo116.al platform and the ALO116111 smartphone app with a single click.  
The www.alo116.al platform and the ALO116111 app have also been designed as a counselling space for both children and parents. In addition to the reporting function, the website includes a dedicated chat function that children and adolescents can use to communicate with counsellors in real-time. Counselling and information is available for children and adolescents who are experiencing violence, bullying, exploitation or neglect. Support is also available for the families, parents and guardians of these young people.  
Speaking at the launch, Head of Operations at the EU Delegation in Albania, Mrs Lenka Vitkova said: “I am happy that two EU funded projects implemented by our partners UNICEF and Terre des Hommes are supporting the national child helpline […] This will enable vulnerable children & families affected by COVID-19 to access social protection, education and mental health & psycho-social services.”

EU and Western Balkans launch a joint Innovation Agenda

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On 6 October, the leaders of the European Union and its Member States, together with Western Balkans leaders, launched the “Western Balkans Agenda on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport”. The document was launched at the EU-Western Balkans Brdo Summit and is a comprehensive, long-term cooperation strategy for the European Union and the Western Balkans to promote scientific excellence as well as reform of the region’s education systems, creating further opportunities for youth, and helping prevent brain drain.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth said: “EU cooperation with the Western Balkans offers unparalleled opportunities. The Innovation Agenda for the Western Balkans will open these opportunities to students, researchers, innovators and cultural operators so that they access new markets, become more competitive and build sustainable prosperity. It’s a positive and forward-looking vision for all.”

Through increased investment in research, education, culture, youth and sport, the Western Balkans Agenda and its proposed actions will contribute to the region’s economic and social development and cooperation. The EU will support ever stronger cooperation between stakeholders in the Western Balkans and in EU Member States to facilitate the successful implementation of the Agenda.

EU-Western Balkans meet in summit at Brdo pri Kranju – Sign Declaration

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Leaders from the EU member states met the six Western Balkans partners at the Brdo pri Kranju summit on 6 October 2021. Hosted by the Slovenian presidency, the EU leaders agreed on the Brdo declaration, with which the Western Balkans partners – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Kosovo, have aligned themselves.   Full text of the Brdo declaration of the EU-Western Balkans summit   The Brdo declaration reaffirms the EU’s unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans. It sets out initiatives to support connectivity and the green and digital transitions in the region, and commitments in the area of political and security cooperation.   The declaration also refers to a range of concrete deliverables benefiting the Western Balkans, including:  
  • – the €30 billion Economic and Investment Plan (EIP)
  • – the pledge to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates
  • – the path towards lower roaming costs
  • – an Innovation Agenda for the Western Balkans
  • – Green Lanes and Transport Community Action Plans.
  The EU reconfirmed its commitment to the enlargement process and relevant decisions taken, based upon credible reforms by partners, fair and rigorous conditionality and the principle of own merits. EU leaders also recalled the importance for the EU of being able to maintain and deepen its own development, ensuring its capacity to integrate new members.   The Western Balkans partners reiterated their dedication to European values and principles and to carrying out necessary reforms in the interest of their people.   The EU is the Western Balkans’ main political, economic and trade partner. Through the EIP, the EU is now providing unprecedented financial support mobilising some €30 billion for the region over the next seven years.   To reflect the importance of the close relationship between the EU and the Western Balkans, the leaders decided to regularly hold EU-Western Balkans summits, with the next one planned for 2022.

EU support for food safety in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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The European Union is providing 33 new off-road vehicles worth €467,000 to be used by authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina for phytosanitary inspections and food controls and monitoring. The aim of this donation is to help Bosnia and Herzegovina to further build capacity in the food safety and phytosanitary sectors, and help the country to align with EU standards.
 
The keys to 14 of these vehicles were handed over by the Head of the Delegation of the European Union and EU Special Representative, Ambassador Johann Sattler, to the Director of the Food Safety Agency of BiH, Džemil Hajrić, the Minister of the FBiH Ministry of Agriculture, Šemsudin Dedić, and the Director of the FBiH Administration for Inspection Affairs, Anis Ajdinović. As a result of this donation, monitoring of food and the food chain will be faster, the period from the taking of a sample during phytosanitary border inspections to its final analysis will be shortened and the time spent on issuing phytosanitary certificates will be reduced.
 
The European Union is working to build capacity in BiH in the food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary sectors through several ongoing projects. Currently, there are three twinning projects in BiH worth six million euros, aiming to strengthen institutional capacities and bring these sectors in BiH in line with European Union legislation.

Make your school a Superschool

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 The Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) has opened a call for secondary school exchanges in the Western Balkans. This Superschools programme is a new opportunity for schools, students, and teachers that aims to support peacebuilding and reconciliation processes and intercultural learning and dialogue between schools, students and their communities. Participating secondary schools will have the chance to implement school-to-school exchanges as well as other capacity building, networking and cooperation activities. The deadline for application is 28 October.

 

The programme, which will be implemented in the next three years will focus on supporting schools to develop and conduct youth exchanges as well as to design a regional school exchange scheme which will enable secondary school students to participate in a long-term RYCO exchange program. Every secondary school, public or private, from the Western Balkans is invited to apply and implement these exchanges, and thanks to the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), exchange expenses will be covered for all selected schools.

 

The Superschools programme is part of the multi-donor “Western Balkans School Exchange Scheme” project 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.

 

RYCO is an intergovernmental organisation that stewards and promotes the regional and intercultural cooperation of young people within and between six Western Balkans societies.

President von der Leyen wraps up Western Balkans visit

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“Building bridges between people, countries and cultures is so crucial for our common future. Because […] all the Western Balkans, belong in the European Union.”
 
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrapped up her three-day visit to the Western Balkans yesterday in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On this final day she attended the inauguration of the EU-financed Svilaj bridge, together with Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković and the Chair of Council of Ministers, Zoran Tegeltija. The new bridge over the river Sava, part of the major north-south road Corridor 5C, now connects Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia and by extension, the EU.
 
Her three-day visit began earlier in the week on Tuesday in Tirana, where she was received by Prime Minister Edi Rama, and President Ilir Meta. Together with the Prime Minister, von der Leyen attended the inauguration of the Korab Muça School and Europa Kindergarten, which was rebuilt with EU funds under the EU4Schools programme after the devastating 2019 earthquake.
 
In Skopje, President von der Leyen met Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, as well as President Stevo Pendarovski and visited a youth cultural centre. In Pristina, she met with President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti and visited the EU-funded Cicërimat kindergarten.
 
Later she travelled to Podgorica, where she was received by President Milo Đukanović and Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić, and visited the Institute of Public Health which received support in the fight against the pandemic.
 
On the final day of her visit, President von der Leyen was in Belgrade where she met President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. She then took part in a launch ceremony in Niš marking the start of construction works of a railway section on the International Rail Corridor X, before finalising her tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina.