Head of the Cooperation of the EU Delegation, Bertolini, visited three municipalities in the south of Serbia

Bertolini  together with the Mayor of Lebane, Ivan Bogdanović, visited the dialysis centre, which started working in 2018  with the financial support of the European Union. The assistance was used for the complete reconstruction of the premises, and purchase of the medical equipment that enables the department to work at full capacity, while the patients from the territory of Lebane and Medveđa receive adequate medical care.

The Head of the Cooperation of the EU Delegation also visited the premises of the "Sunce" Day Care Centre that will be renovated with the EU grant worth more than 137,000 Euros provided through the EU PRO plus programme in order to provide adequate conditions and quality social services for children and young people with disabilities.

"During the visit to the projects in Lebane, I have seen how local communities develop and how the EU funds are used in the best possible way, but the most important thing is to see how Serbia and the EU share the same values and invest joint efforts, time and funds in projects such as the reconstruction of this Day Care Centre for children in need. These are examples of concrete assistance and benefits for citizens," said Bertolini.

“The more mature projects are, the more support the EU will be able to provide, while the sectors of social inclusion, environmental protection and local economic growth are very important for the country's development and EU accession," said Bertolini. As he pointed out, commitment to development at the local level is visible, and work on project preparation, investment in people and work with young people, together with capacity building is the best way to develop communities and keep the young people from moving to big cities.

"With the support of the EU to Lebane, we implemented important projects, including the hemodialysis department at the primary health care level in the Health Centre, the renovation of the "Sunce" Day Care Centre, but we also received help for local businesses, for development of a plan for the detailed regulation of the Caričin grad location, and we are preparing to work on projects in the field of environmental protection and water supply in the coming period", said Ivan Bogdanović, the Mayor of Lebane.

The representative of the EU Delegation visited two enterprises that the EU supported by purchasing equipment. The social enterprise "Radanska Ruža", founded with the support of the EU in 2015, is engaged  in processing quality fruits and vegetables and the production of winter preserves. THe already exports its organic products to EU countries. What sets this enterprise apart is that it employs about 30 women, most of whom are single mothers, women over 55, and women with disabilities, who are economically and socially empowered by working in Ruža.

The EU also supported the Deverra Farm enterprise from Lebane that produces pharmaceutical products, and thanks to the EU donation, it acquired new laboratory equipment and perfected the production process, automated production and further improved the quality product on the market, all with quality standardization.

After the meeting in Bujanovac, the Mayor Nagip Arifi and Bertolini stated that the successful cooperation between the EU and the municipality would continue, and the representative of the EU Delegation added: "This is an extremely important meeting since I have had the opportunity to learn about the problems that the local community faced with and how European support can help solve them, and we will pay special attention to the south of the country both because of the economic indicators and development level and the position of these municipality".