Strengthening economic, cultural, natural and human resources in local communities was the main goal of the cross-border cooperation program of BiH and Montenegro supported by IPA 2 funds. The Directorate for European Integration of BiH, with the support of the Delegation of the European Union in BiH, presented the results achieved in the period from 2014 to 2020. Twenty projects were implemented in 56 municipalities in BiH and 14 in Montenegro.
Tourism and environmental protection, including strengthening resistance to natural and man-made disasters, were financed by cross-border cooperation projects of BiH and Montenegro with 8 million and 400 thousand euros. Among the 3 implemented projects, there was one whose applicant, with 70 percent financial assistance from the European Union, ensured a better life for people with disabilities through the agricultural segment.
Mirenko Vujinović, coordinator of the project People with disabilities – leaders in beekeeping, states that 20 people with disabilities received equipment and 10 beehives, as well as training for production and sales: “12 families have so many beehives that they have income to survive , which is important to us because we are dealing with families of people with disabilities”.
More than 99% of the total available funds have already been contracted for the IPA 3 program, i.e. the period from 2021 to 2027.
“BiH and Montenegro prepared a program document and submitted it to the European Commission, which adopted it last year. The procedure for signing financial agreements is underway, but we have already started activities within that program,” points out Alma Kurtalić-Zahiragić, an expert advisor in the Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The cooperation of local communities and their citizens, authorities and organizations is a good example of harmonization with the European Union, which should also be followed by the central authorities, considering the obligations that our country has after obtaining candidate status.
“The new situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina – obtaining candidate status requires even greater engagement of all levels of government, all institutions. It seeks to speed up the process of harmonization with the European Union, and this program is a successful example of how to speed up that process and how to use these funds,” said Stefano Ellero, Head of Cooperation in the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The first public call for submitting project proposals to the IPA 3 program will be open until July 25. It is focused on the tourism sector, for the implementation of which the European Union has made available 2 million and 160 thousand euros.
