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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina receive €1.9m for cross-border cooperation

Belgrade, 17 November 2008

Head of the sector for EU funds management in Serbia Mirjana Nozic today opened the first meeting of the joint monitoring committee for the EU’s IPA cross-border cooperation programme for Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Nozic said it is crucial to adopt the joint activities programme so that local self-governments from both countries can start applying for the funds.

She said that Serbia has been actively working on this issue since 2004, adding that municipalities from border areas of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina will have €1.9 million at their disposal for joint projects over the next six years, on condition that no more than €600,000 is earmarked for each project.

Nozic explained that the funds will be used for environmental protection programmes, boosting the competitiveness of the economy and companies, economic development, tourism and construction of small infrastructure facilities.

Head of the department for cross-border cooperation at the Directory for EU Integration in Bosnia-Herzegovina Nada Bojanic pointed out that Bosnia-Herzegovina is less experienced in cross-border cooperation than Serbia.

According to her, although funds allocated to the project are still small, a joint programme will enable the training of the staff implementing the projects and preparation for the upcoming period, when joint projects will be worth much more.

The IPA cross-border cooperation programme is the latest EU initiative to promote cooperation between countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Beneficiaries of the programme can be municipalities, NGOs, regional chambers of commerce, regional development agencies, educational institutions and other non-profit organisations.

The meeting was also addressed by member of the European Commission delegation to Serbia Soupilas Konstantinos and member of the European Commission to Bosnia-Herzegovina Renato Zrnic.