site.btaFirst Call for Proposals under New Bulgaria-Serbia Cross-border Cooperation Announced – Regional Development Ministry

The first call for proposals under the new Interreg-IPA Cross-border Cooperation Bulgaria-Serbia Programme was announced after Monitoring Committee approved the application guidelines, the Ministry of Regional Development and Urban Planning said Thursday.

The call is for the implementation of a strategic project intended to make the management of natural disasters in the border region significantly more effective, it emerged at the opening of the first meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Bulgaria-Serbia 2021-2027 Programme, which was held in Nis. 

The project, worth over EUR 8.0 million, is aimed to improve the skills of rescue teams, remove administrative and legal obstacles to their working together, purchase new equipment and train the population for crisis response.

The Interior Ministry’s Fire Safety and Civil Protection General Directorate and Academy, as well as the National Association of Volunteers in Bulgaria, and the Serbian Ministry of Interior are the beneficiaries under the project. 

Another thematic priority of the programme is direct support for SMEs. Enterprises in the region will have EUR 6.5 for technological modernisation, increasing their capacity and finding new markets.

The integrated development of the cross-border region will follow the tailored territorial Strategy headed by a Board which held its constituent meeting in Nis. The Territorial Strategy focuses on the development of sustainable tourism and culture in the region and in the acquisition of new knowledge and skills in business, education, community activities and digitisation. More than EUR 23 million have been earmarked for projects in these areas. The opening of measures under the strategy will start in the first half of 2023.