Western Balkans Fund ready to make official launch
Related Articles
TIRANA, June 22 - The Western Balkans Fund, the first regional international organization to have its seat in Tirana, is ready to make its official launch after concluding its preparatory stage.
"As of 11 May 2017, the ratification procedures have been concluded by all Western Balkans Fund Contracting Parties (WBF CP). It means that the Agreement Establishing WBF has now entered into force," the international organization established by six EU aspirant Western Balkans countries said in a statement.
"Now, the next step is the official launching of the WBF, its further structural and legal consolidations and starting of its core activities," it added.
The statement comes after the 5th meeting of the Western Balkans Fund Committee of National Coordinators took place at the WBF Secretariat premises in Tirana on June 15-16.
"The experience gained during this period, the comprehensive and positive spirit of regional cooperation shown by the representatives of all contracting parties, in finding the best modalities, answers and solutions to the complex and not easy tasks, represents a solid ground for continuing our joint activities for making WBF, this important, all inclusive and regionally owned initiative, fully operational, a model of a success story," says the Western Balkans Fund.
The Western Balkans Fund, the first regional international organization to have its seat in Tirana, is a cooperation platform between Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that will promote common values and develop regional cooperation between citizens, civil society and institutions of the Western Balkans region, providing a concrete “people-to-people” approach based on the already successful model of the Visegrad Fund, a Bratislava-based international organization founded in 2000 by the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
“We want to give people and especially youth the possibility to know each other better and assist in the reconciliation process,” Gjergj Murra, the Albanian executive director – designate has earlier said.
Established in the framework of the Berlin Process, the creation of the Western Balkans Fund is considered an important political decision and also, a significant positive mark of the new cooperation spirit taking roots in the Balkans and its EU aspirant countries.
Another important organization, the Regional Youth Cooperation Office in the Western Balkans, will also have its seat in Albania. The office aims to further encourage youth cooperation, mutual understanding and exchange of experiences, with a view to strengthening stability, sustainable development and progress in the Western Balkan region.
