Belgrade Mayor Prof. Dr Zoran Radojicic hosted a meeting with H.E. Sem Fabrizi, the Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, at the Old Palace. They discussed the role of Belgrade in Serbia’s EU accession process, joint projects and stepping up cooperation.
The issue of EU accession concerns the entire country and mayors play an important role in it, said Ambassador Sem Fabrizi.
– Roughly 60-70 per cent of legislation and standards Serbia needs to adopt falls under the jurisdiction of local self-governments. Towns and municipalities are responsible for social affairs, transport, environment, etc. That’s why we pay particular attention to cooperation with towns and municipalities with whom we implement joint projects. The European Union is already funding numerous projects in Belgrade, including those in areas of environment, social housing, culture etc. I am happy to hear you have some made encouraging steps, particularly in the area of environment – Ambassador Fabrizi said.
Mayor Radojicic thanked the Ambassador for his visit, describing Belgrade-EU cooperation as highly significant. On the one side, we have the capital of an EU acceding country, while on the other, there is the EU. Bringing Ambassador closer to plans and next steps, he said that “greening” of the capital was one of the priorities of his administration, reads a press release issued by the City Assembly.
– I have visited Ljubljana; their valuable experience will help us to sign Belgrade up for the title of European Green Capital. I have put in place a team tasked with assessing the state of play in Belgrade in 12 key environmental aspects. Once we have enough information, we will seek to improve the environment in all important areas. I am aware this will be an arduous and challenging task – given Belgrade’s size compared Ljubljana’s – and I know people might be wary of the idea, but I will certainly try. The same thing happened with the University Children’s Hospital. I wanted to modernise it and turn it into a brand. At first, no one believed in that idea, but I succeeded eventually – the Mayor said.
The Mayor said ecology is important, adding that each and every citizen of Belgrade wants to know the quality of air they breathe and water they drink.
– I want to remind you that we are on the verge of finding a solution to the Vinca issue and wastewater treatment. We also want to have a larger pedestrian zone and more bicycle paths – Radojicic added.
The Mayor and Ambassador discussed the Vinca project, social housing, energy efficiency and wastewater treatment. They agreed that those are all important topics that will remain part of meeting agendas in the future.
They also discussed culture and tourism cooperation, noting that EU investment in public institutions is a direct investment in further development of the city.
