The European Commission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Montenegro and provided the first instalment of the support in the form of highly favourable loans worth €30 million, intended for limiting the economic fallout of the COVID-19 epidemic.
This is only part of the support available to Montenegro within of the Macro-Financial Assistance Programme worth up to €60 million. This form of support complements the previously approved €53 million, which the European Union granted to Montenegro for the procurement of urgent medical equipment and to assist socially underprivileged individuals, entrepreneurs, companies, the health sector and others that have been most seriously impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
The disbursement of the second and final instalment loan support, up to the €60 million total , will be conditional on Montenegro meeting the requirements specified in the MoU, including strengthening public finance, fight against corruption, enhancing financial stability, improving the business environment, and social protection reform. The assistance programme will be available for a period of 12 months.
The Macro-Financial Assistance Programme for Montenegro is part of a €3 billion MFA package that the Commission proposed for ten enlargement and neighbourhood partners to help limit the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The Delegation of the European Union to North Macedonia and the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers have announced the 18th edition of the Jean Monnet Media Award. This year, the award will recognise achievements in covering issues related to the theme of “EU solidarity during the pandemic: expectations and possibilities”.
The Jean Monnet Award will be given in three competition categories:
Best Journalistic News Item (for news items published in print media, broadcast media and/or web);
Best Reporter Photography (for photographs published in print media and/or web);
Best Amateur Photography.
A five-member jury committee will choose the winners. The awarding ceremony will be held on 28 April 2021.
The EU is mobilising its RescEU medical reserve to distribute 1.2 million items of personal protective equipment to North Macedonia and Montenegro to help them cope with the pandemic. The items will be delivered from the RescEU medical reserves hosted in Germany, Belgium, Greece and Romania.
The strategic medical reserve is part of the wider RescEU component, created under the umbrella of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. It includes a fleet of firefighting and medical evacuation planes, as well as a stockpile of medical equipment and field hospitals that can respond to health emergencies. The reserve is hosted by several Member States, who are responsible for procuring the equipment.
Background
Participating countries can request assistance from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism when the scale of an emergency overwhelms the possibilities of a country to respond on its own. It can be activated for all types of natural and man-made hazards.
The Mechanism has coordinated and co-financed the delivery of over 23 million items of assistance to 31 countries to support their COVID-19 response, including personal protective equipment, ventilators, the reinforcement of medical staff, or, more recently, vaccines.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) – the EU’s lending arm – is providing €40 million for the reconstruction of the urban transport network in the Canton of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The financing will enable the modernisation and extension of the tram and trolley bus networks by replacing existing vehicles and building new tramlines and tracks. These improvements will significantly increase safety and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in Sarajevo and the surrounding municipalities.
Establishing a more efficient and reliable public transit system is expected to enable a shift of passengers from private to public transport modes. As a result, it will 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.
The Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH, Ambassador Johann Sattler, said: “Urban mobility and sustainable, green public transportation are high on the agenda of the European Union. This project will support a shift to more environmentally-friendly public transportation and provide citizens with more affordable, accessible, healthier and cleaner alternatives in Sarajevo. As such, it is also contributing to the collective effort to reduce air pollution, a major threat to climate and citizens’ health.”
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and the International Press Institute (IPI) have opened a Call for Applications for the second two-day training course on fact-checking and tackling disinformation as part of the EU-funded project, “Solidifying the Resilience of Kosovo’s Current and Future Journalists”.
The IPI will bring two experienced media professionals to administer the training course and share their knowledge and experience with Kosovo journalists and journalism and social sciences students. Trainers include Carina van Wyk, head of education and training at Africa Check, Africa’s first independent fact-checking organisation, and Eoghan Sweeney, an open-source investigation specialist and trainer who over the past decade has helped to establish and develop digital verification and fact-checking operations at media organisations across the globe.
Based on the joint experience, BIRN and the IPI aim to help the next generation of Kosovo journalists to tackle disinformation and fake news, and conduct reporting that meets international fact-checking standards.
This is the second time that BIRN partners with IPI, an EU-based global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, to help improve standards in Kosovo journalism. The first edition, held in December 2020 gathered a total of 36 participants. BIRN is the only media organisation in Kosovo certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
The deadline to submit applications is 21 March, while the maximum number of participants is set at 40. Candidates from all parts of Kosovo are encouraged to apply. However, priority will be given to younger journalists with less experience in the described field.
The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) hosted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Nikola Selaković to discuss the regional cooperation and the implementation of the Common Regional Market Action Plan.
RCC’s Secretary General, Majlinda Bregu emphasised that regional cooperation was and remains the primary driving tool for developing the region. “This is also reflected in the opinion of 69% of Western Balkan businesses, which believe the quality of regional cooperation is important for the quality of their business,” said Bregu.
Bregu and Selaković discussed the need for having a regional health cooperation mechanism that would administer the COVID-19 vaccines, exchange of health workers, medicines, and even patients. Minister Selaković praised the work of the RCC and its efforts in establishing the Green Lanes, an initiative supported by the European Commission that accelerates the flow of goods, especially food, medicines and medical equipment within the region and between the region and the EU in the time of lockdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Both interlocutors expressed the commitment to focus on the deliverables of the Common Regional Market Action Plan for the upcoming Berlin Process Summit of WB6 that is to take place in Germany this summer. Minister Selakovic visited the RCC in its Sarajevo headquarters as part of his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is co-funded by the European Union.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is launching a new Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) in Montenegro that will provide loans to households for energy efficiency improvements.
The programme will deliver over €27 million in incentives to end borrowers provided by the European Union through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF). Technical assistance to support the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the programme is supported by grants from the government of Austria with over €5 million and additional nearly €2 million by bilateral donors to the WBIF.
The financing is part of a larger €135 million Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) programme for the Western Balkans. GEFF is implemented under the umbrella of the Regional Energy Efficiency Programme for the Western Balkans (REEP Plus), funded by the EU and delivered in partnership with the Energy Community Secretariat.
The investments will help to make households more energy efficient, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve living standards. Households can select the technologies they wish to invest in, including thermal insulation, double-glazed windows, high-efficiency boilers, heat pumps, solar collectors/solar water heaters and photovoltaic systems.
To date, around 7,000 households in the Western Balkans have improved their energy efficiency thanks to GEFF with investments in projects that contributed to reducing over 10,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to removing 6000 cars from the street.
The Ambassador of the European Union to Serbia, Sem Fabrizi, met Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić on 17 March to discuss the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccination process, the dynamics of accession negotiations, as well as stability in the region.
Ambassador Fabrizi assured President Vučić that the EU would continue to support Serbia’s efforts to fight COVID-19 emphasising that the European Commission announced the allocation of €12 million for Serbia from the EU Solidarity Fund, which is another indicator of the EU’s support for Serbia since the outbreak of the pandemic. The Ambassador commented positively on Serbia’s contribution to the COVAX programme and congratulated Serbia on the results achieved in the vaccination process and the timely measures taken in the fight against the coronavirus.
President Vučić thanked the EU for its support to Serbia and expressed hope that the first contingents of vaccines from the COVAX programme will arrive soon.
Ambassador Fabrizi pointed out that despite the current challenges caused by the pandemic, the EU keeps the issue of enlargement very high on its agenda, given the new methodology to be presented by the European Commission. President Vučić also confirmed that cooperation with the European Union and full membership of Serbia remains one of the key foreign policy priorities of the country.
An EU-funded project is supporting the revival of a century-old railway for cycling and tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the end of the 19thcentury, the Austro-Hungarian Empire initiated the construction of a railway that would connect the main towns of central Bosnia and Herzegovina. The works started in 1891 and within a few years the people of the region could travel by train.
For most of the population, this was a completely new experience. A train journey was also an exceptional sightseeing opportunity as the railway went through mountain gorges and past medieval castles and beautiful landscapes. The railway was in operation for almost 80 years until the authorities of socialist Yugoslavia decided in 1976 to shut down the line, close the stations and remove the rail tracks. The reason was the construction of new roads and the increase in motor vehicles and their use.
“People were emotionally attached to this railway.”
The revival
Miroslav Matošević lives in a suburb of the city of Travnik. His house is near the old railway and he remembers playing on the railway track and around the deserted train station as a child. “People were emotionally attached to this railway. I remember the stories that when the railway was shut down, some Catholic women from the region wore black scarves for months as a sign of mourning. Like for a member of the family,” he says.
Miroslav is now the head of the Central Bosnia Canton Tourist Organisation. Along with colleagues and a lead partnering organisation, the REZ Development Agency, he has undertaken an initiative to revive the old rail track, but for a different purpose. They are working on launching a 100-kilometre-long bike trail along the old railway and have successfully applied for support from a European Union and the German Government funded project.
The purpose of the Old Rail Trail project is to expand the offer for outdoor tourism in the region and enable longer stays for tourists visiting Central Bosnia during the summer.
Showcasing the region
The work includes the establishment of a bike trail on the route of the old railway, international promotion of the trail and the region, and networking of the businesses providing services in a cycling-friendly system. Miro is particularly fond of the innovative approach of this third component which includes launching a bike-friendly mobile app that would connect cyclists and local businesses – restaurants, hotels and others. In exchange for being part of the application, businesses would have to implement bike-friendly standards such as parking space for bikes, room for cyclists to change, and discounts for cyclists.
“It is unbelievable how many people were happy and praised us when we announced the launch of the project. ”
About the project
The Old Rail Trail is supported by the European Union and the German Government through the EU4Business project in BIH and implemented by the Regional Development Agency (REZ) and Central Bosnia Canton Tourist Association, and Nesa Sistem d.o.o. Travnik.
EU4Business aims to stimulate the development of entrepreneurship, export-oriented sectors, tourism and agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The overall funding budget of EU4Business is €16 million and it is jointly funded by the European Union (€15 million) and the Federal Republic of Germany (€1.1 million). The project is jointly implemented by GIZ, ILO and UNDP and will end by March 2022.
The trail will run on the same path as the old railway and will pass five towns of the Central Bosnia Canton: Busovača, Donji Vakuf, Jajce, Travnik and Vitez. Cyclists will be able to stop and visit these towns but also cultural heritage monuments such as medieval Travnik castle.
“It is unbelievable how many people were happy and praised us when we announced the launch of the project. Obviously, aside from the economic benefit there is also an emotional connection and memory,” says Miroslav.
The Old Rail Trail is supported by the European Union EU4Business project and implemented by the Regional Development Agency (REZ) and Central Bosnia Canton Tourist Association, and Nesa Sistem d.o.o. Travnik.
The awarded projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina will provide young people in the region with networking opportunities in regional youth dialogue, peacebuilding and reconciliation.
One of the projects developed by Youth for Peace will address the need for capacity building in peacebuilding and regional dialogue among youth workers and civil society organisations. The other project, which will be implemented by Balkan Investigative Reporting Regional Network (BIRN) aims to address the lack of communication opportunities for youth in the region so they can share their common past stories and experiences by moving forward with the reconciliation process.
The projects are funded under the 4th Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) Open Call for Project Proposals supported by the European Union.
The overall objective of the fourth RYCO Open Call for Project Proposals is to support the civil society in the Western Balkans to foster reconciliation and regional youth cooperation during and post COVID-19 crisis. The call aims to contribute to increasing the capacities of CSOs that can implement regional youth-related projects and provide new opportunities for young people.
The Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) is an independently functioning institutional mechanism, founded by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, aiming to promote the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation between the youth in the region through youth exchange programs. RYCO is financed by the governments of the region, and it is supported by the EU and other donors.
