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Author: WeBalkans

COVID-19: EU sends 200,000 vaccines to Albania and North Macedonia

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A new consignment of COVID-19 vaccines for both Albania and North Macedonia has been channelled through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. It follows a request by the authorities of both countries to the EU for support with the COVID-19 situation. The delivery, offered by Greece, consists of 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines for each country.

 

Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said, “I thank Greece for its offer to its neighbouring countries. We see here yet another example of the swift coordination done by the European Civil Protection Mechanism that has proved to be crucial in supporting countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

 

The EU finances up to 75% of the transport costs of the assistance sent through the Mechanism and since the start of the pandemic more than 45 countries have received support including vaccines, medical and protective equipment via the Mechanism.

Yes, you! – a great opportunity for young people in Montenegro

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The EU Info Centre (EUIC) in Montenegro is inviting young people to apply for a new call – Yes, You! – for youth initiatives in Podgorica. The activities of the Yes, You! programme include workshops during which young people can learn more about the European Union, improve team skills, spend time with peers, and acquire practical knowledge which they will later apply during the creation and organisation of activities important for young people in their city and in line with the areas covered by the EUIC.  
Applications are open to all young people from Montenegro aged 18 to 30, who are able to organise their own transport to Podgorica during the workshops, which will take place in the last week of July. The application deadline is 20 July, and applications can be made here. After the training, participants will be tasked with designing and implementing their own initiatives with the support of the EU Info Centre, in order to learn through practice how to be actively involved in decision-making process.  
This initiative is just the beginning of the future intensive work by the EU Info Centre in Podgorica with young people who want change.

The deadline for a new call for Young European Ambassadors extended to 30 July

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The deadline for the call for applications for Young European Ambassadors has been extended to 30 July 2021. If you are aged between 18 and 29, and want to become a leader of change, make sure to apply!
 
The YEA network launched in August 2020 with 60 game-changers from Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The network promotes diversity and 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.
 
The ‘YEAs’ are now a well-known network, sharing information with their peers about opportunities offered by the EU – from education and skills development, to travel, advocacy, and much more.  Hoping for a safer year ahead of us, we are looking forward to welcoming new young leaders, who will inspire change within their communities and across the Western Balkan region and the EU.
 
Applications are open from until 30 July 2021 and all information about the selection process can be found in the webpage:LINK

YEAs go to EXIT Festival

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The 60 Young European Ambassadors from across the Western Balkan region took part in EXIT Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia from 7 to 11 July and introduced themselves and the YEA Network to the young people attending the festival.

 

As a special part of the programme dedicated to youth, the Young European Ambassadors presented their activities and sent a message on the importance of youth participation in society, through activism, creativity, cultural dialogue and cooperation. Young European Ambassadors also participated in a workshop on the Conference on the Future of Europe together with their peers and organised a Fake News Hunt game to raise awareness on media literacy.  In addition, the manager of both Young European Ambassadors, Selena Tasic and OPENS, Vukasin Grozdanovic, along with the Representative of the EU Delegation to Serbia, representatives of the City of Novi Sad and the president of EXIT Foundation Ivan Petrovic addressed the audience at the occasion of the presentation of these two important youth networks.

 

The Young European Ambassadors initiative is part of the WeBalkans project within the EU Regional Communication Programme for the Western Balkans. OPENS is an Association whose task is to implement a series of activities, projects, programs, events, initiatives together with its partners in order to open doors for the transfer of energy, knowledge, experience and information in order to strengthen the capacities of young people.

 

EXIT Foundation is part of the EXIT Festival team that focuses on social activism. EXIT is a music festival, which came into existence as a result of youth social activism, thus becoming the core of the festival itself that EXIT founders never separate from the music spectacle it stands for.

Call for entries to EU-funded short film competition in Kosovo

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Kosovo’s Europe House is organising a European Film Festival, supported by the EU Office in Kosovo and Cineuropa, to showcase short films. The purpose of the festival is to support and promote Kosovan film-makers. The festival will enable Kosovan artists to show their films in Pristina, North Mitrovica, Gjakovë/Ðakovica and online, as well as offering a competition with three prizes:

 

-Best Film: €1,000

-Best Actor/Actress: €1,000

-Best Director: €1,000

 

Europe House in Kosovo invites all Kosovan film-makers to apply to be part of the festival, and to join the competition for one of the main prizes.

 

Ten local short films will be selected for screening on the big screen at three different festival events. Selection will not be selected based on prizes or selections films have received at previous festivals.

 

The deadline for the submission of films is 14 July 2021, 17.00.

BIRN launches call for EU Investigative Journalism Award for 2021 in Albania

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Investigative articles from Albania can now be submitted to the 2021 EU Investigative Journalism Award. Investigative stories published from 1 January to 31 December 2020, and related to freedom of expression, the rule of law, transparency, the abuse of power and fundamental rights, corruption and organised crime are eligible.

 

The award fund in 2021 (for achievements in 2020) is €10,000. The first prize will be €5,000, the second €3,000, and the third €2,000. Individuals or groups of journalists are eligible to apply in all journalism forms (print, online, radio and TV) published or broadcast in the media in official, minority or international languages.

 

The EU Investigative Journalism Awards in the Western Balkans and Turkey aim to celebrate and promote the outstanding achievements of investigative journalists as well as to improve the visibility of quality journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey. The awards are part of the ongoing Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey project, funded by the European Union.

 

Deadline for submission of application is 31 July 2021.

Heritage Hubs Project Receives 2021 Europa Nostra Award

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The Heritage Hubs project funded by Creative Europe has been named the winner of the EU’s 2021 Europa Nostra Award for Cultural Heritage. The award is the highest recognition in cultural heritage in Europe.

 

Heritage Hubs brought together young people aged 10 to 16 from Finland, Serbia, and Spain in a two-year programme to explore, present and share their own cultural heritage and interpret the heritage of other countries via exchange visits and an e-learning platform. Heritage Hubs school pilots were organised in 11 primary and secondary schools across the three countries. The pilots included training sessions for 800 teachers and heritage workshops with pupils, in which pupils first engaged with their own cultural heritage and later experienced, interpreted and presented the cultural heritage of other countries, both online and during exchange visits. In Serbia, the participating schools included the Đura Jakšić primary school from Zaječar, Ilija Garašanin primary school in Grocka and Miroslav Antić primary school in Belgrade.

 

The EU’s Europa Nostra Awards for Cultural Heritage were launched by the European Commission in 2002 and have since been managed by Europa Nostra with support from the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme. The awards have brought the winning countries increased international visibility, additional funding, and a higher number of visitors.

New call for Albania-Montenegro cross-border projects

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The IPA Albania-Montenegro Cross-border Cooperation Programme has launched its third call for proposals. Through projects implemented under this call, the programme aims to strengthen good neighbourly relations and foster environmentally-friendly and socially-inclusive economic development of the border regions by promoting tourist potential and respect for common cultural and natural heritage.

 

The priorities of this call are as follows:

 

-Encouraging tourism and cultural and natural heritage;

-Protecting the environment, promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation, and risk prevention and management;

-Promoting employment, labour mobility and social and cultural inclusion across the border.

 

The total funds available under this call are €4.9 million.

 

The call is open to legal persons and non-profit organisations established in Albania and Montenegro, including local governments, business support organisations, tourism and cultural organisations, NGOs, educational establishments, research centres and others.

Sarajevo-Pale old railway to be turned into cycling path

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In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Mayors of the City of Sarajevo and the City of East Sarajevo, and the municipalities of Sarajevo Stari Grad, East Stari Grad and Pale signed an agreement last week on the restoration of the old railway line between Bistrik and Pale. The twisting track that winds along the side of the Miljacka Gorge will be turned into a 15-kilometre cycle and walking path.
 
The European Union is working with the authorities of the two cities and the three municipalities on this project to give this route a new purpose. The path will also offer a chance for visitors to see some embankments, tunnels and bridges which are remarkable and elegant examples of late-nineteenth–century engineering.
 
“It’s a pleasure to host the mayors of cities and municipalities who have jointly supported the development of tourism and the construction of a cycling trail that will connect cities and people, but also be a real tourist attraction. I am happy that we have the opportunity to provide financial support for this dream to become a reality next year,” said EU Ambassador Johann Sattler.
 
The European Union continues to support the development of tourism in BiH. Together with the German government, the EU has so far allocated €1.6 million through the EU4Business programme, while an additional €1.2 million will soon be invested through the EU4BusinessRecovery to help tourism recover from the effects of COVID-19.

Young people create regional youth agenda for the Western Balkans

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The Western Balkans Youth Forum, organised as part of the Berlin Summit 2021, concluded on Monday 5 July 2021. The event brought together over 100 young people and decision-makers from the region and the European Union to discuss the current situation of youth in the region and how to improve their position and lives. A number of selected Young European Ambassadors – a creative network of future game-changers established in 2020 under the EU Regional Communication Programme for the Western Balkans – participated and co-chaired working groups.

 

The participants discussed key challenges and topics such as reconciliation and peacebuilding, volunteering, new skills for the future, sustainable development, shifting “brain drain” to “brain gain” and how to increase youth participation. These discussions and conclusions are now formulated in the event’s final product – the Regional Youth Agenda.

 

The young people participating in the forum underlined that the recommendations presented in the Regional Youth Agenda should be developed and implemented through co-creation and co-management principles and with strong youth participation at national and regional levels. Furthermore, they recommended that special attention should be paid to the inclusion of vulnerable groups and youth from poorly developed areas in the region.