Belgrade, 12 May 2022
EU ambassadors visit EU projects in the municipality of Svilajnac
"This is a success story because it demonstrates that we are better together. Because if we work together with the local community, with the municipalities, the business sector and the member states, we achieve a lot and this is what the EU in Serbia is all about," said the Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret during a visit to Svilajnac. He together with the 20 ambassadors of the EU member states and the Mayor Predrag Milanović visited the projects that were implemented in the municipality with the support of the European Union.
"We have a long partnership with the municipality of Svilajnac and it is an example of how the EU and Serbia together can generate the necessary preconditions for local development. The EU has invested about 15 million Euros in Svilajnac and today we have seen how these funds have been put in good use in many areas, starting from the flood protection and regulation of the river Resava, social inclusion and construction of housing units for the people in need, in the field of culture through renovation of culture centre and educational institutions but also in the economic sektor and creating conditions for attracting investment through equipping industrial zones", said the Head of the EU Delegation.
"All projects we implemented together with our partner UNOPS and the municipality of Svilajnac came to the incredible use, and attracted other investments from the EU as the EU is not only the European Commission but also its member states that invested here with their bilateral projects, its private sector that came here as they saw it was possibility to develop their business," concluded Giaufret.
The delegation visited the Natural History Center of Serbia in Svilajnac, as well as the Culture Center in the village of Kušiljevo that was renovated with the EU support of close to 150,000 Euros. After the performance of two local folklore ensembles, Ambassador Giaufret said that the preservation of cultural heritage is of special importance for the EU and that is why the EU supports communities in protection of their identity, and projects such as the Culture Centre contribute to this goal and keep the community together.
"Today, we presented the past projects implemented with the support of the European Union. Without the support of the EU, flood recovery would not be possible and neither would be work on many development projects implemented in Svilajnac. The time has now come to work together in the local industrialisation sector, as large EU companies opened their factories and are creating new jobs in the Municipality," said the mayor of Svilajnac Predrag Milanović, emphasizing that the visit of twenty ambassadors of EU countries is a great honor and recognition of the municipality and all the inhabitants of Svilajnac.