An implementation seminar was held in Podgorica for the beneficiaries of projects supported through the Second Call of the Interreg Euro-MED program. Montenegrin institutions and organizations achieved notable results in this call, with partners from Montenegro participating in 14 out of a total of 56 approved projects.
“The success is evident as the total budget allocated for Montenegrin beneficiaries is around €3.3 million. This is significantly higher than the budget achieved in the entire previous financial perspective of 2014-2020, during which institutions and organizations from Montenegro received support amounting to around €2.2 million,” emphasized Miloš Marković, Acting Director General of the Directorate for European Territorial Cooperation at the Ministry of European Affairs.
The projects approved within this call will enable Montenegrin institutions and organizations to improve conditions for sustainable tourism, contribute to economic innovation, enhance the system for protecting natural resources, and create green living areas
“Territorial cooperation is one of the foundations of the European Union and plays a key role on Montenegro’s path to full membership in the Union. It allows our citizens to experience the benefits of European integration even before accession, as transnational and cross-border projects directly contribute to a better quality of life. At the same time, these projects enable our institutions to build capacities for managing future, significantly larger projects funded through European structural and investment funds,” stated Marković.
At the event, beneficiaries had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the rules for implementing project activities, including financial project management. In addition to representatives from the Ministry of European Affairs, valuable information was provided by representatives from the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro and the Joint Secretariat of the Program, headquartered in Marseille, France.
Interreg Euro-MED is a transnational cooperation program among the states of the European Mediterranean, aiming to contribute to the green transition, sustainable development, and the creation of a climate-neutral and resilient society through cooperation and finding solutions for common challenges. Alongside Montenegro, the Interreg Euro-MED program includes Bulgaria, France, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain as EU members, and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia as EU candidate countries.