The Governing Board of the Territorial Strategy was also established
The first call under the new cross-border cooperation program between Bulgaria and Serbia was launched after the Monitoring Committee approved the application guidelines. The invitation is aimed at the implementation of the strategic project, with which the management of natural disasters in the border region will be significantly more effective. This became clear at the opening of the first meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Bulgaria-Serbia 2021-2027 program, which was held in Nis. Within the framework of the project, the skills of the rescue teams will be improved, administrative and legal obstacles to their joint work will be removed, new equipment will be purchased and the population will be trained for crisis response.
More than 8 million euros have been earmarked for the implementation of the strategic project. Beneficiaries under it are the DG "Fire Safety and Protection of the Population", the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Association of Volunteers in the Republic of Bulgaria.
The other direction in the new program between Bulgaria and Serbia is direct support for small and medium-sized businesses. Enterprises from the region will have 6.5 million euros available for technological modernization, increasing their capacity and finding new markets.
For the implementation of Priority 2 "Integrated development of the cross-border region", the specially developed Territorial Strategy will be followed. It will be managed by a Management Board, which held its founding meeting in Nis. The territorial strategy focuses on the development of sustainable tourism and culture in the region and on the acquisition of new knowledge and skills in the field of business, education, public activities and digitalization. More than 23 million euros have been allocated for projects in these areas. The opening of measures under the strategy will start in the first half of 2023.