The 10th National Conference on European Territorial Cooperation Programs was held today in Novi Sad, presenting the results of Serbia’s cooperation so far with partners from the European Union and the region, as well as opportunities for future projects. Grants were formally awarded to beneficiaries of the Serbia–North Macedonia and Serbia–Montenegro cross-border cooperation programs.
Nemanja Starović, Minister for European Integration in a caretaker capacity, said that European integration — beyond reforms, the negotiation process and alignment with EU standards — also has a concrete everyday dimension, reflected in better services, more developed infrastructure and new opportunities for citizens.
He noted that Serbia has participated in European territorial cooperation programs since 2004 and is preparing for the new 2028–2034 programming period, with the goal that future programs respond even more strongly to the region’s needs and support competitiveness, innovation, the green and digital transition, energy and transport connectivity, and the resilience of local communities.
Ambassador Andreas von Beckerath, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, stated that over 22 years of territorial and cross-border cooperation, more than 1,400 projects have been implemented or are currently underway in Serbia, with a total value of around 225 million euros.
He said that over the past two decades these programs have equipped hospitals, schools and kindergartens, connected children from border areas through exchanges and sports, restored cultural monuments, modernized border crossings, and built wastewater treatment facilities and green transport routes.
Von Beckerath emphasized that Serbia currently participates in 12 cross-border cooperation programs with neighboring countries and EU member states, whose common goal is to turn borders from dividing lines into spaces of opportunity and cooperation.
According to him, the contracts awarded today under the Serbia–North Macedonia and Serbia–Montenegro programs connect 41 organizations from three countries through their projects, with more than five million euros in EU support, focused on employment and mobility, public health, social inclusion of vulnerable groups, sustainable tourism, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
Novi Sad Mayor Žarko Mićin said the value of European territorial cooperation lies not only in institutions, funds and projects, but in the fact that it connects people and cities and enables joint solutions to problems that go beyond administrative borders.
Mićin noted that Novi Sad has concrete experience with these programs, and that since 2012 the city and the institutions it founded have been approved for more than 20 projects in the fields of environmental protection, culture, tourism, transport, healthcare, and support for small and medium enterprises.
European Commission representative Nuria Aldao, who addressed participants live, assessed that the conference represents a great opportunity for discussion, exchange of experience and continued cooperation, noting that previous years have shown the importance of partnerships created through the conference and that continuing such cooperation is important for Europe’s future as well.
North Macedonia’s Minister of Local Self-Government, Ivan Stoilkovikj, emphasized that the jubilee tenth edition of the conference is a significant indicator of the continuity and connection between institutions and citizens, and that European integration is of great importance to his ministry. He said that daily work with municipalities makes it possible to identify the challenges and potential of local communities, while the EU’s cross-border cooperation programs create better conditions for residents of border areas to overcome shared challenges.
European Commission representative Morrey Gyland, who addressed participants via video message, assessed that ten years of the conference demonstrate Serbia’s stable commitment to regional development, adding that the success of cooperation is measured not only in numbers but also in its impact on people’s lives.
The conference also included a panel titled “Global Europe,” as well as thematic sessions dedicated to European territorial cooperation programs, new opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises, and presentations of successful projects in Serbia.
