HEAD OF THE EU DELEGATION TO SERBIA: WE ARE PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS ACHIEVED IN SOUTH SERBIA

5. December 2017.

Bujanovac - Sem Fabrizi, the Head of EU Delegation to Serbia, said in Bujanovac that the relations between Serbia and the European Union were in a "very favorable" period because "a number of steps" had already been taken to bring Serbia closer to the EU.

Upon the meeting with Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Ambassador Fabrizi said that regional stability, cooperation and economic development were important for the EU.

“My main job at this position is to help Serbia move closer to the Union, while the ultimate goal is for Serbia to become an EU member. The Union invests 200 million euros per year to help the accession process and we are very pleased with the results achieved in South Serbia, where we have a specific number of successful projects in the fields of education, healthcare and the economy, "Ambassador Fabrizi said.

He said that the opening of the Subotica Faculty of Economics’ Department in Bujanovac was an example of how the EU could provide assistance with education, social integration and economic growth.

“Accession to the EU is the future of Serbia and we will duplicate all our efforts in order to accelerate the process, "Ambassador Fabrizi said, announcing that the implementation of the EU-PRO program would start in 2018, for which the local self-governments south of Belgrade would be able to apply.

Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body, said that the international community had invested around 35 million euros in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, as well as that another 60 million euros had been invested, through the Coordination Body, in infrastructure projects.

He noted that, as part of the projects financed with the EU’s assistance, the Subotica Faculty of Economics’ Department in Bujanovac had been opened, as well as the outpatient maternity ward in Presevo, and that the program of learning Serbian by the Albanian primary school students had been launched.

“The EU’s assistance is needed for the projects of improving the economic conditions in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, as well as for working on the implementation of the seven-point program, which was, at the proposal of the Albanian political parties from those municipalities, adopted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 2013,” Mr. Stankovic said.

Source: Jugmedia, “Beta” news agency and Coordination Body