site.btaUPDATED BTA Press Club in Bosilegrad Hosts 4th Europe in the Balkans Cross-border Conference

The BTA national press club in the Serbian town of Bosilegrad on Wednesday hosted the fourth cross-border conference under BTA’s project "Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future". The EU-funded Europe in the Balkans conferences series aims to provide a platform for discussions on the role of the cohesion policy in the Balkans and raise awareness of results of projects funded by the EU through the Cohesion Funds.

The Bosilegrad forum was opened by the Bulgarian Consul General in Nis, Dimitar Tsanev. He expressed appreciation for the presence at the conference of representatives of Serbian towns with Bulgarian residents, including Tsaribrod (Dimitrovgrad), Vranje and Surdulica, and emphasized Bulgaria's desire to work for the European integration of Serbia. He pointed to programmes of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which aim to to help Serbia maintain its desire to join the European Union, as well as to support the Bulgarian communities in Serbia. According to the diplomat, business representatives can also participate in the projects, adding that the times were partnerships were only between municipalities has past. "One of the problems that leads to the projects not being implemented is the fact that they are acting a little campaign-like", Tsanev said. He also stated that maintaining a constant process of building relations between municipalities on both sides of the border and preserving friendships will facilitate the creation of cross-border partnerships. According to him, this will naturally lead to applying for and receiving approval from the commission, where both Bulgaria and Serbia are equally represented. 

Ivaylo Kashkanov, Counsellor at the Bulgarian Embassy in Belgrade, said that programmes and projects must be aimed at preserving human potential, especially in municipalities like Bosilegrad (Dimitrovgrad). He added that there may be good ideas and projects, but if they do not directly contribute to the people, then the goal is missed. "It is important to hold such conferences with representatives of the local authorities from Bulgaria and Serbia, because this is the way in which opinions can be expressed freely, problems can be looked at and solutions can be found," noted Kashkanov. "One of the priorities of our foreign policy has been precisely the support for European Union membership of the countries of the Western Balkans, and this discussion fits precisely in the efforts we are making on our side to give some impetus to our Serbian partners on the way to the European Union," he pointed out.

Elenko Petrov, Tsaribrod (Dimitrovgrad) Municipality Councilor for Information and Education, pointed to the fact that there are over 1,000 workers from the Serbian municipality who travel to Sofia region every day. "At the moment, we have launched an initiative to open a temporary checkpoint at Gradina so that our workers can pass easily and without customs detention", he said. This will also apply to students in Sofia and Plovdiv, as well as to Serbian citizens who own property in Bulgaria. Regarding cross-border projects and European funding, Petrov gave an example of the completed projects for the improvement of sports infrastructure worth EUR 150,000. A project worth EUR 9,000 has led to the provision of 9 new e-services in the municipality, Petrov noted.

Ankica Milenkovic Zegarac, head of Local Development Office in Surdulica, presented the significance for the Serbian municipality of the implemented bilateral cross-border infrastructure projects. She recalled that Surdulica Municipality has been working on cross-border projects with Bulgaria since 2007, adding that the first project was the reconstruction of a road, implemented in partnership with Trun Municipality. The Information Centre for Environmental Protection in Vlasina was reconstructed together with Kyustendil Municipality. Zegarac emphasized that there has always been a good understanding between the Serbian and Bulgarian municipalities when working on projects.

Detelina Fuskova, Chief Expert for Project Planning and Preparation at Kyustendil Municipality, defined the cross-border programme between Bulgaria and Serbia as important and pointed out that the municipalities of Kyustendil and Surdulica are developing a successful partnership. She gave the example of the implemented joint project for the renovation of the Ezerata Park in Kyustendil and of an information centre in Surdulica.

Dupnitsa Mayor Parvan Dangov noted that as a member of the commission for cross-border cooperation between Bulgaria and Serbia, he will work for the implementation of cross-border projects not only with Bosilegrad but also with Vranje, Surdulica and Dimitrovgrad, so that people in cross-border regions would not feel left out. 

Darko Filipovic, Member of the Vranje City Council, said that Vranje is open to cooperation on cross-border projects and has the potential to work in various fields. He stated that Kyustendil and Vranje are cooperating on a project for the reconstruction of the Kyustendil library and the cultural center in Vranje. He recalled that the first cross-border project on which Vranje worked was in 2010, in cooperation with Dupnitsa, while the second cross-border project was in cooperation with Montana, through which the stadiums in both cities were reconstructed. He said that Vranje may not have enough experience in implementing cross-border projects, but that there are capable people in the local and economic administration, who are willing to work and are ready to cooperate.

Bosilegrad Municipal Councilor Daniel Zarev recalled that in 2006-2007, the municipality managed to implement a successful project under the goodneighbourliness programme with the municipalities of Kovachevtsi, Zemen, and Trekliano. He also said that there was a project for Kraishte, a region with unique varieties of fruit crops, which, however, was not completed after the first phase. According to him, new projects are being prepared, one of which is in the field of tourism. He also thanked Bulgaria for helping  them fund the renovation of a high school.

Irena Georgieva, Director of the Regional Information Centre (RIC) in Pernik, said that European funding can come not only from the INTERREG VІ-A IPA Bulgaria-Serbia 2021-2027 programme, but also from the EU's Erasmus+ and LIFE programmes. She called on the representatives of Bosilegrad, Surdulica, Vranje and Dimitrovgrad to look for opportunities under these programmes and to turn to RIC in Pernik for assistance. "We consult beneficiaries and people who wish to participate in EU programmes for free", she noted.

Ivan Nikolov, Chair of the Cultural and Information Center of the Bulgarian National Minority in Bosilegrad (Dimitrovgrad), said that eurosceptic sentiments in Serbia are growing seriously and that not only the European programs for cross-border cooperation, but also the entire European policy in the Republic of Serbia did not give the expected results. He presented data according to which, in the period from 2014 to 2020, the European Union allocated over EUR 400 million to Serbia, with which over 1,600 projects were financed. He noted that bike lanes and eco-paths are not the people's problems, as the Bulgarian municipalities in the cross-border region continue to be at the bottom of the most economically backward regions of the EU. "The hate speech against Bulgarians in the Serbian media not only does not subside, but also grows even more, precisely in the municipalities where a lot of funds from the EU have been invested", Nikolov stated.

Among the participants were also Novica Toncev, Serbia’s Minister without portfolio in charge of improving the development of underdeveloped municipalities; Nikolay Dochev, Deputy Mayor of Kyustendil in Southern Bulgaria; Ivan Iskrenov, Head of the EU Programmes Department in Pernik Municipality. Representatives of non-governmental organizations were also invited to the forum.

The Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future project is implemented by BTA with support from the European Commission. It builds on a past project, "Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future", and aims to foster a better understanding of the role of the cohesion policy in the Balkans; to raise awareness of projects funded by the EU through the Cohesion Funds; promote dialogue on the results of the projects at local level and boost civic participation in issues related to cohesion policy.

So far conferences have been held in Ruse, Razgrad, Veliko Tarnovo, Silistra, Gabrovo, Burgas, Sliven, Yambol, Haskovo, Stara Zagora, Kazanlak, Kyustendil, Pernik and Samokov, and cross-border conferences in Bucharest, Edirne and Skopje. Until August, discussions will be held in the BTA press clubs across Bulgaria as well as in Belgrade and Thessaloniki.

The "Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future" project is funded with EUR 348,871. To achieve the project's aims, BTA is using a media mix and expects to reach out to between 700,000 and 1 million people in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkiye.