International and smaller non-government organisations have been continuously extending aid to this local self-government on the border. The European Union has to date earmarked 20 million Euros to help the Serbian Government successfully respond to the challenges brought on by the migrant and refugee crisis.
During his visit to Preševo in February 20016, Richard Maša, the Head of Delegation of the European Union Operations III, emphasised that the top priority in the previous period had been to provide the migrants and refugees with a place where they could rest and that this was exactly what the European Union and the Swiss Government had done via European PROGRES, by supplying the Preševo Reception Centre with 550 beds, 900 blankets, 700 sets of bed linen and 350 pillows, as well as ten mesh containers, a water reservoir and 15 mobile toilets.
“I particularly wish to commend the efforts invested by the Preševo Municipality in responding to the challenges brought on by the migrant crisis and the genuine solidarity Preševo residents have been showing the migrants and refugees,” said Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency Director Ms Perich, adding that the new garbage truck would help improve the efficiency of waste management in the municipality in the longer term.
The new garbage truck, worth 70,000 Euros, which was funded by the European Union and the Swiss Government through European PROGRES, will help maintain the satisfactory hygienic conditions in the Reception Centre for migrants and the municipality in general.
“Our aid efforts are now turning towards the host communities, in order to alleviate the pressures on the local communities. This is why we have donated the garbage truck to the Preševo public utility company “Moravica,” Mr Maša underlined, noting that this was an illustration of concrete aid to a municipality, through which, at times, over 2,000 people transited during one day.
Preševo Mayor Mr Ragmi Mustafa thanked the European Union and the Swiss Government for being the first to recognise the needs of the local self-governments in view of the recent developments. “The donation of the garbage truck is extremely important for the municipality, because it will help us maintain a satisfactory degree of cleanliness in the municipality and the Reception Centre,” Mr Mustafa said.
European PROGRES expressed readiness to extend additional aid and assistance, with the donors’ support, in order to address the needs identified by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social and Veteran Affairs, together with the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration.
