10 Serbian organisations – SCOs, libraries, universities and media – winners of the Europe for Me contest launched by the European Movement in Serbia, were awarded small grants for innovative projects dealing with EU-related communication at the EU Info Centre.
Head of Press, Information and Communication at the EU Delegation to Serbia Paul-Henri Presset said that surveys showed that citizens were ill-informed on the EU accession process and everyday benefits it brings.
“We care about providing Serbian citizens with clear information about European values, what the Union represents, the way it works and the contents of our negotiations with Serbia,” Presset said.
Attaching the key importance to the word ”partnership,” he said that the project Europe for Me enabled cooperation with partners in Nis, Prokuplje, Novi Sad, Pozega, Belgrade, Paracin, Krusevac, Jagodina, etc.
He said that citizens of Belgrade were in an advantageous position when it comes to obtaining information about the EU accession process, adding that the project thus aimed at improving information exchange in other towns in Serbia.
FoNet
Deputy Secretary General of the European Movement in Serbia Ivan Knezevic described the awarding of small grants to organisations and media as the best way to bring citizens closer to the complex EU accession process in a comprehensible manner.
Knezevic said that information at their disposal was not enough for them to grasp key EU policies and their importance.
The project aims to debunk myths and improve knowledge about the EU, among young people in particular, he said.
“Apart from funding projects aimed at local communities they had been initially developed in, we will also provide these organisations with mentor support,” Knezevic said.
Dina Rakin, a researcher from the European Movement in Serbia, said that organisations working with various target groups from across Serbia were awarded EUR2,000-worth grants.
“Projects were rather diverse, each of them dealing with a particular local topic,” she said.
The project was implemented with financial support of the EU Delegation to Serbia.
The small grants were awarded within the project Europe for Me implemented by the European Movement in Serbia in collaboration with the Faculty of Political Sciences and the European Movement in Serbia branches in Sremska Mitrovica and Kraljevo, aimed at strengthening the capacity of local organisations, institutions and media to provide accurate and useful European integration-related information.
