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Author: WeBalkans

EU and IFC sign the 1st of a series of EU Economic and Investment Plan projects

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On 19 December, Katarína Mathernová, Deputy Director-General in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations and chair of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), and Alfonso Garcia Mora, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Vice President for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, signed the Eco-Industrial Parks project, the first IFC led project implemented through WBIF.

 

The Eco-Industrial Parks project aims to help advance de-carbonisation and improve resource efficiency of industrial parks across the Western Balkans. Preliminary diagnostic will be followed by targeted implementation of four pilot projects in industrial parks across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Albania.

 

IFC, together with the World Bank, is the latest international financial institution to join WBIF, creating a partnership of critical importance to support private sector activity in the region, addressing urgent development issues, creating jobs, and ensuring long-term sustainability. Other projects in the pipeline aim to mobilize guaranteed financial instruments for creditworthy agribusiness clients, enabling much-needed sector modernization, digital transformation and help improve climate related capacity of financial intermediaries, allowing them to expand their outreach to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Ambassador Popa met with the Young European Ambassadors

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The Ambassador of the European Union to Montenegro Oana Cristina Popa met with the Young European Ambassadors as part of the “Youth Dialogue” initiative launched earlier this year. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss what has been done so far as part of this initiative, but also which topics should be better addressed in the future. Young European Ambassadors stated the problems that concern them, such as attacks on the LGBT community in Montenegro, biased media coverage and national divisions, a large percentage of young people who want to leave the country and their unclear role in society and more.

 

Ambassador Popa introduced them to the projects and activities that the European Union is implementing in Montenegro when it comes to overcoming these challenges, but also invited the young people to be active and propose concrete initiatives in order to improve their community.

 

Young European Ambassadors (YEA) is an initiative dedicated to young people in the Western Balkans, which the European Union launched three years ago in order to give them the opportunity to learn and experience the values ​​of the EU and promote the opportunities that this community offers. Recently, the third generation of YEA was announced in Montenegro, including Selda Jahjagić, Marija Blažević, Anđela Micić, Merita Dukaj, Edina Osmanović, Filip Jovetić, Lukas Junković, Milutin Radulović, Luka Vukotić, Andrej Bubanja, and Matia Prenkočević.

Putting Albania on the start-up map

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A flagship initiative funded by the EU helps to identify, promote and grow innovation.

Albania’s recent political milestone – the start of accession negotiation with the EU in 2022 – opens a new chapter for innovation and competitiveness in the country. With a traditional economy, the country has had steady growth since its switch to democracy three decades ago but showing tangible results in start-up development is important for Albania to move towards a sustainable economy.

 

Since Albania was considered to have untapped potential for start-ups, the European Union offered financing for projects to improve the innovative environment and breed new entrepreneurs. The “EU for Innovation” initiative brings best practices that enable ecosystem actors to come to life, facilitate them in working together, and support innovative start-ups.

“The ‘EU for Innovation’ has acted as a cornerstone of the ecosystem.”

When the initiative started back in 2018, it was obvious that there were entrepreneurial activities but that they were scattered and not helping the sector as a whole. EU for Innovation offered an address where resources could be pooled and activities coordinated.

“The ‘EU for Innovation’ has acted as a cornerstone of the ecosystem. We improved cooperation in the ecosystem; we created engagement platforms and repeatedly put emphasis on the importance of competition between stakeholders in order for the ecosystem to become more competitive overall,” says Sebastian Berwanger from the EU for Innovation initiative.

The government has added their support by initiating a law on start-ups as well as a grant scheme that will inspire new innovators over the next five years.

The EU for Innovation initiative filled in gaps in the Albanian ecosystem through an open co-creation process with key stakeholders. Taking this approach, the initiative piloted more than 35 projects from October 2018 to September 2022 and closely aligned its activities with stakeholders, policy makers and other donors.

Technology is an integral part of start-up solutions in Albania, whether in ICT, tourism, agriculture or agri-tourism, e-commerce, education, or health. Another positive pattern in the first cohort of founders resulting from the multi-university incubation programme, is its domination by women founders.

AlbaniaTech, the country’s yellow pages for start-ups

Taking the first steps can be a burden for every start-up, and that is why a team of innovators introduced AlbaniaTech, a platform offering information exchange, promotion and the chance to connect stakeholders. Built with support from EU for Innovation, the platform aims to unite and activate the key ecosystem players in Albania.

“Sometimes it is just one missing piece of information that young people need to be part of a programme, an opportunity to grow into a business,” says Prishila Gjoka from AlbaniaTech.

AlbaniaTech is free to use and with its database of 170 start-ups, it is the place to identify, promote and grow start-ups in Albania. The platform has grown by collaborating with an international provider that hosts  50 ecosystems globally, thus making the startup ecosystem of Albania visible to foreign investors, while also developing a digital welcome for whoever wants to start fresh in Tirana.

“Our platform enables start-ups to flourish.“

About the project

The EU for Innovation project seeks to improve the innovative environment and boost the creation of start-ups in Albania through capacity development for innovation; intensified linkages within the Albanian innovation ecosystem; and funding for innovative start-ups and innovation support providers. The project is considered as the flagship project for innovation and the start-up ecosystem in Albania.

The foundations have been laid for the next generations to build upon: AlbaniaTech is there to give wings to innovators and start-ups. “Our platform enables start-ups to flourish. Anyone looking back will see how the community has grown from where we started from scratch,” says Gjoka.

With serious interventions like EU for Innovation, Albania is slowly but surely earning a place on the map of start-up nations. The new dynamics in the Albanian innovation environment were highlighted on the European Innovation Scoreboard 2022 where Albania was noted as an Emerging Innovator alongside the other Western Balkans economies.

The Maribor effect: enhancing professional skills abroad

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The EU-funded Intervet project helps increase and create new opportunities for learning mobility in the Western Balkans.

Engjull Miftari is a 17-year-old high school student from Kosovo. He is in the final year of the “7 September” Vocational Education School in Prishtina. Engjull says he’s been fascinated by the catering business since a very young age. He explains that this was probably because of his father: “My father was a chef in a restaurant for over 17 years, and I would sometimes accompany him to work; I fell in love with this profession,” Engjull says. As it wasn’t possible to study cookery at high school, he chose to study tourism in general, including managing tourism agencies and reception desks, and he says that he doesn’t regret his decision – and even if he had a wider choice, he wouldn’t now choose a different professional school.

“The internship experience in Prishtina was very useful. However, I had the feeling that I needed more practical work experience as well as variety.”

Engjull proved to be a very good student, with high grades and praise from his teachers. As a result, he was assigned to a four-month internship at the reception desk at the Grand Hotel, one of the historical hotels in the centre of Prishtina. “The internship experience in Prishtina was very useful. However, I had the feeling that I needed more practical work experience as well as variety,” says Engjull. This opportunity came very soon when the EU-funded Intervet project launched a call for international internships for Vocational Education (VET) high school students from Kosovo.

As a VET School student, Engjull heard about this opportunity from his English language teacher and instantly decided to apply. He fulfilled the criteria by being a good student and having knowledge of English, and he was chosen among the young students from Kosovo who would join a one-month internship programme in a mountain hotel in Maribor, Slovenia. “I was very excited,” Engjull remembers.

“My experience during the internship in Maribor was excellent. Not only did I upgrade my professional skills, but I also learned about the culture and developed my language skills too.”

About the project:

The aim of the EU-funded Intervet Western Balkans project is to create opportunities for learning mobility in Western Balkans training centres, the internationalisation of the VET System and an improved culture of learning mobility in the field of VET. To achieve these, the project is implementing activities at two levels: on the one hand, the mobility of VET learners and on the other, the competence building of VET staff. Their consortium includes business and education associations, small and medium-sized enterprises, VET centres, chambers of commerce and universities from the six Western Balkans and eight EU countries, while Prishtina REA is the Kosovo country partner of the project. By the time it is finished, the project aims to have implemented 56 PRO-type mobilities, 360 placements of one month, 54 job shadowing experiences, participation of 36 VET teachers in summer schools – in Amsterdam, Bologna, Lyon, Maribor, and Seville, and participation of 72 VET teachers and managers in activities hosted by the Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology (MCAST), ROC Da Vinci College (The Netherlands) and SEPR (France)

During the internship in Maribor, Engjull practised his skills in various positions, from administrative support to the hotel maintenance service section, to restaurant service, reception desk and the spa. Apart from gaining professional experience, in his free time he also had an opportunity to visit the city with other students and to learn more about the culture. They visited the city museum and main attractions and also had the chance to visit Ljubljana, and the city of Graz in Austria which is not far from Maribor.

All in all, this was a great learning experience for Engjull and other students. “My experience during the internship in Maribor was excellent. Not only did I upgrade my professional skills, but I also learned about the culture and developed my language skills,” says Engjull.

Sarajevo part of the 100 Net Zero Emission Cities mission: Launch of coalition for greener projects

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Following the selection of the Sarajevo Functional Urban Area as part of the 100 Net Zero Emission Cities mission, the EU Office in BiH and Canton Sarajevo launched the Net Zero Emission Coalition on 14 December. The Coalition partners committed to coordinating their activities and to directing resources towards zero emission projects in Sarajevo.  
The launch of the Coalition, which will represent a fundamental change in how funds are spent, is an opportunity to link financing with the objectives of a cleaner environment especially in polluted urban areas such as Sarajevo.  
Following the selection of the Sarajevo Functional Urban Area among the “100 cities”, a ten-year Net Zero Action Plan needs to be developed, including a plan for climate neutrality across all sectors such as energy, buildings, waste management and transport, together with related investment plans. This process will involve citizens, research organisations and the private sector. The Net Zero Emission Coalition will come together regularly for practical working level meetings which will be an opportunity to coordinate activities and share best practices.

RHP delivers keys to newly-built apartments to 25 refugee families in Serbia

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As the end of 2022 draws near, the pace of Regional Housing Programme (RHP) activity shows little sign of abating, as a further 25 refugee and displaced families received keys to newly-built RHP apartments in Šid and Lučani, Serbia, on 15 and 16 December. The first of the ceremonies, which marked the delivery of keys to ten families in the municipality of Šid on 15 December, was attended by Svetlana Velimirović, Deputy Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia; Zoran Semenović, Mayor of the Municipality of Šid; Mirjana Maksimović, Programme Manager at the European Union Delegation to Serbia;  Ružica Banda, National Human Rights Officer at the OSCE Mission to Serbia, and Jovan Lazarov, Deputy Director of the Public Sector Projects Implementation Unit Ltd., amongst others.

 

On behalf of the European Union – the main donor to the RHP – Mirjana Maksimović congratulated the families on their new homes and emphasised the determination of the EU to support socially vulnerable people. “I am glad that we will have the opportunity to open many more buildings before this programme closes next year,” she said.

 

The celebrations continued in Lučani the following day, where a further 15 RHP beneficiary families received new homes.  On behalf of the refugee families present, RHP beneficiary Radoslav Mirković from Lučani took the opportunity to thank all donors and stakeholders.

€263 million of EU grants for seven projects in Serbia

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The European Union recently launched a new energy support package for the Western Balkans which Serbia will benefit from in particular. Ranging from support for vulnerable households and businesses to mitigate the hike in energy prices, to a plan for a new power plant and a wind farm, the plans are wide-ranging and will materialise soon in Serbia and the region.  
Serbia and the EU have agreed a set of seven new projects on energy, the environment and transport infrastructure. This constitutes the biggest investment of the EU in Serbia dedicated to a green economy. The Operation Board of the EU and its Western Balkan Investment Framework co-financed by member states approved €263 million of EU grants for seven projects in Serbia. The approved EU grants complement loan funding from the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the German Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), as well as national contributions from Serbia. The funds are a continuation of donations from the European Union to support the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, and constitute elements of the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan.  
These new projects will directly and positively impact the quality of life across Serbia by improving connectivity and reducing unnecessary emissions and environmental degradation. With this €263 million EU investment, substantial economic growth will be enabled by the creation of new business opportunities and jobs in local communities.  
On 6 December, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, presented the Energy Support Package for the Western Balkans at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana. The donation to Serbia’s energy sector is a part of the €500 million of funds for projects in the Western Balkan energy sector, as announced at the Tirana summit.

Journalist safety index: Montenegro is third in the region

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Montenegro was rated as third in the region in the Journalists’ Safety Index, with a score of 3.40, after North Macedonia (3.95), and Croatia (3.73). Compared to the previous year, the rating for Montenegro is significantly lower (down from 3.59), primarily due to the record number of attacks on journalists. This was explained at the presentation of the Journalist Safety Index of Montenegro for 2021, which was held at Europe House as part of the panel on “The Role of Independent Media in a Democratic Society” organised by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Podgorica.

 

The Western Balkan Journalist Safety Index is a mechanism that measures and monitors changes in the social and political environments that have a direct or indirect impact on the safety of journalists and media professionals while carrying out their profession, and consists of four separate units that reflect the overall picture of journalist safety. Montenegro received the worst ratings in the Real Security category, which also recorded the biggest drop in rating from 3.58 to 3.20 for 2021. The record number of attacks, threats, and pressures on journalists contributed most significantly to this.

EU in Kosovo helps fight corruption, supporting the public information efforts of the Anti-Corruption Agency

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The Anti-Corruption Agency, supported by the European Union in Kosovo, has launched a public information campaign promoting its role in controlling the declaration of assets by officials, preventing conflicts of interest, and investigating whistleblowing reports. The campaign, dubbed “for a corruption-free Kosovo”, calls on the public to report corruption and is being launched following the adoption of new laws that strengthen the mandate of the Agency, giving it additional powers and tasks, including direct sanctioning of officials and corruption-proofing of legislation.  
With the support of the European Union in Kosovo, the campaign will include five videos and a brochure providing information about the mandate of the Agency, ways the public can report corruption, and the fines and sanctions officials and institutions may face if not respecting the law. The EU in Kosovo is working with both legislative and executive institutions to help align Kosovo laws and practices with those of the EU as part of the EU integration process.

BIRN Trains 30 Journalists in Audience Engagement Reporting

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BIRN held a four-day online training course in audience-engagement for 30 journalists from Balkan and Visegrad countries from November 5 to 8. Thirty journalists from ten media outlets were given training in engagement journalism at the workshop held by Ariana Tobin, engagement editor of ProPublica, and BIRN’s experienced trainers and mentors Aleksandra Bogdani, Ana Petruseva, Gyula Csak and Katarina Zrinjski.  
Within the programme, the selected media outlets had an opportunity to participate in training and mentoring in order to bring innovation to their newsrooms, engage communities and develop investigative stories by using the B-engaged tool – a digital tool designed and developed by BIRN for the purpose of audience engagement. The training course, which combined technical skills and editorial knowledge was the first step in the programme to help media outlets develop their engagement stories.  
Audience Engaged Journalism Grants are part of the Media Innovation Europe (MIE)project, funded by the European Commission. The programme is run by the International Press Institute, the Thomson Foundation, the Media Development Foundation and BIRN and is intended to empower media outlets as they navigate the digital transition, giving them journalistic tools and skills in diverse products and business structures in order to reach audiences and bring sustainability.