Head of the European Commission Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas, together with Mr Osman Topcagic, Director of the Directorate for European Integration of BiH addressed participants of the seminar on new financial facility for civil society under the "Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance IPA", that took place today in Sarajevo.
EU Info Centre Sarajevo in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Commission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Directorate for European Integration of BiH organised the seminar in order to provide a forum for a discussion between international and local representatives on how to use the funds that the EU allocated for strengthening of civil society in BiH.
Ambassador Kourkoulas stressed that recent past of the entire region is another reason which made civil society a crucial factor of success of the integration process. In that regard he underlined: “I am an optimist, but we have to be aware of the challenges this country will face in years to come if it does not want to miss the European train.” In addition, he expressed his hope that this new facility would contribute to development of a more active role of civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina and entire region. “It is up to you to take advantage of these instruments and to propose quality projects.”, Ambassador Kourkoulas explained to representatives of civil society .
A brief overview of the progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European integration process was a main focus of Mr Topcagic’s address. He reiterated that by signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement Bosnia and Herzegovina received both new responsibilities and opportunities. Now it is up to all stakeholders of BiH’s society to take their part in that process. Mr. Topcagic stressed the importance of the role that independent civil society should play in one society by correcting the government actions through partner relations. In that regard, he concluded: ”Development of civil society that shares freedom of assembling and acting for public good is one of the priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European integration process.”
Mr Yngve Engstroem, representative of the EC Directorate General for Enlargement, underlined the European Commission’s clear commitment to strengthen the civil society as already outlined in the Communication on Western Balkans of March 2008. “Civil society is a key factor of the quality of the accession process”, said Mr Engstroem and called on better coordination with donors in order to avoid overlapping and to support civil society more efficiently.
About new facility
The new facility will cover three areas of intervention:
– Support for local civil society initiatives and capacity building, reinforcing the role of civil society in the candidate and potential candidate countries
– People-to-People Dialogue programmes aimed at familiarising journalists, young politicians, trade union leaders, teachers, etc. with EU policies and institutions
– Support for building partnerships and developing networks between civil society organisations in the enlargement countries and the EU to promote transfer of knowledge and experience.
The EU’s strategy for enlargement has increasingly put an emphasis on civil society dialogue and development in the EU candidates and potential candidates. Since 2005, the European Commission has granted financial support to projects on civil society dialogue with and between Western Balkan countries. The EU’s financial support to civil society activities in Western Balkans and Turkey will approximately amount to 130 million euro over the period 2008-2010.
