TIRANA, May 10 – Eighteen projects involving 84 partner organizations from the six EU aspirant Western Balkan have received the first funding from the Western Balkans Fund, one of the first regional international organization to have its seat in Tirana that launched its operations last year as an international organization established by the six WB governments to promote regional cooperation.
The first 18 winning projects, supported by a total of €230,000, will promote sustainable and economic development, education and research as well as culture and sports for a one-year period, says the Western Balkan Fund.
Speaking at grant award ceremony held this week, Gjergj Murra, the executive director of the Western Balkan Fund, said the regional cooperation platform was now a reality that has started to deliver.
“In our assessment, the results of the [first] call are a clear sign that regional stakeholders are mature, willing and ready to cooperate. There is a strong need for support from civil society organizations. The decision to create the WBF was a timely one and very well accepted by our societies,” Murra was quoted as saying in a statement.
Albania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ditmir Bushati said the winning projects will help enhance people-to-people contact and fight stereotypes.
“Through these projects we will be able to know each other better, to reduce negative stereotypes which are still prevalent in our societies and to build our future together,” said Bushati.
Almir Sahovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Assistant Minister for Multilateral Relations, said the projects will help improve people-to-people connectivity.
“This Fund is very important because it shows that our region is changing and our region is going towards European values and European perspectives,” Sahovic said.
“We have all been speaking a lot about the need of the increasing of the physical connectivity among our countries throughout our region. Also there is another important connectivity; connectivity among our people. And this is the main aim of our Fund,” he added.
The Western Balkans Fund 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 has earlier said.
Another important regional organization, the Regional Youth Cooperation Office in the Western Balkans, has its seat in Albania. Established in 2016, 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.
