Regional cross-border cooperation

Balkan Transfrontier Cooperation Forum

Objectives
Improvement of cooperation in the Balkans, strengthening of peace and stability in the region, acceleration of socio-economic development processes. Representatives of NGOs from Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania prepared a draft for the cross-border cooperation strategy of the third sector. The strategy comprised: identification of common needs, establishment of strong relationships between organisations, exchange of know-how, creation of a portal dedicated to cross-border cooperation, association of NGOs for gaining access to external funding opportunities. The Euroregional Center for Democracy was a co-organiser in this program.

Outcome
74 nongovernmental organisations from Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania, together with 20 representatives of local authorities and funding institutions, identified the necessity to elaborate a development strategy for cross-border cooperation in the Balkans.