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BELGRADE – Over the past 20 years, the European Union (EU) has allocated two to three times more funds through grants than all other international partners combined, with annual amounts ranging between 200 and 300 million euros, which makes it by far the largest donor in Serbia, according to the latest NALED bulletin. Unlike the European Union, which consistently remains a development partner and even increases the availability of grant funding, most bilateral and multilateral partners have reduced the scope of their financial support over those 20 years or even completely discontinued it, such as Austria or the USA, NALED points out. They add that this is an expected trend that will continue as Serbia progresses on its European path – the availability of European funds increases while other partners reduce their development assistance and redirect it to less developed countries. Last year, after the European Union, the most significant partners were Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, which allocate tens of millions of euros annually, while Norway and other bilateral donors and international organizations, such as United Nations agencies, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, participate with significantly smaller amounts of grant funds, but represent important support for reforms, European integration and socio-economic development.
The Director of the Department for Good Governance and Projects at NALED, Ana Ilić, emphasized that, unlike other donors who focus on a limited number of areas in line with their own development strategies, the EU is the only one that supports practically all segments of social life in Serbia. Most funds are invested in infrastructure, that is, energy, transport and environmental protection, but also in socio-economic development, innovation, digitalization and healthcare, and a special place is occupied by the area of the rule of law, which includes judicial reform, human rights, media freedom and strengthening institutions, all of which coincides with national priorities, NALED’s recommendations, as well as the needs of citizens and the economy. Strengthening regional cooperation is cited as a very important segment of investment, which the EU has directly supported through the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, worth six billion euros, but also through cross-border cooperation projects aimed at improving the quality of life of the local population and reducing territorial economic and social disparities. “NALED is an active participant in several such EU projects. In Subotica and three other border municipalities in Croatia, we are working on establishing solar power plants on 30 public buildings, installing smart public lighting and setting up 13 smart bus stops, while on the other side, in southern Serbia in Novi Pazar, Tutin and municipalities in Montenegro, a project for the development of primary waste separation and collection at the local level was recently completed. On that occasion, the EU also donated 1,500 bins for proper waste separation in households and one collection truck for the public utility company in Novi Pazar,” said Ana Ilić.
Bearing in mind the importance of environmental protection and alignment with the EU acquis in Chapter 27, NALED is providing technical assistance to the line ministry in establishing a regional waste management system for the City of Novi Sad and seven surrounding municipalities, while at the same time, through the Growth4Blue project and cooperation with partners from Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, it supports the development of the blue economy by aligning market needs and available staff in the areas of fisheries, shipbuilding, river and lake tourism. “In 2026, we should continue connecting our economy with the European one through the development of sustainable and responsible business, decarbonization, sustainable trade and the development of innovation. It is important that our economy progresses as quickly as possible in the application of European business standards and that it makes maximum use of the funds available to it from various European programs,” she emphasized. She added that this is an area in which we can make significant progress as early as this year, and that NALED, as a contact point of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), will provide special support to startups, researchers, companies and all those who want to innovate and offer their innovative solutions and products to the European market. (January 18)