The Head of Cooperation Sector at the Delegation of the EU to Serbia, Holger Schroeder and the Head of the Third Sector of Operations at DEU, Richard Masha, met today with the officials from Novi Pazar and Sjenica to discuss the development projects financed by the European Union, the Government of Switzerland and the Government of the Republic of Serbia through the European PROGRES programme.
Accompanied by the Mayor of Novi Pazar, Meho Mahmutovic, the representatives of the EU Delegation visited one of the nine dams on the river Raska built as part of the of flood protection project. This project, funded by the European Union and the Swiss Government through the previous development programme EU PROGRES prevented the flooding of this area in 2014 while the estimated damage from the river outflow during 2013 was around one million EUR.
“The constructed dams are very simple structures but hugely contribute to the flood protection so the citizens and the local government no longer have to pay for the damages. It is very important to work on the projects of flood prevention. The European Union will continue to help Serbia in that regard also in the next period,” said the Head of Cooperation Sector at the Delegation of the EU, Holger Schroeder.
The European officials visited the Regional Centre for the Development of Agriculture with the Mayor of Sjenica municipality, Hazbo Mujovic. Its construction was financed through the EU PROGRES so that over 200 families dealing with agriculture in Novi Pazar, Tutin and Sjenica could get the necessary professional support for increasing the production and profit.
“Agriculture is of extreme importance for the development of the whole South West Serbia region. The European Union helped establish the Centre for the Development of Agriculture in Sjenica so that the farmers in this area could receive important services required for production. That is why it is important for all the stakeholders in this project to fulfil the obligations they took upon themselves” said Mr Schroeder.
