The chairman of the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) Richard Zink announced that around EUR 30mn would be invested in southeast Serbia this year, out of which the biggest chunk would go to the multiethnic municipalities of Bujanovac, Presevo, and Medvedja.

At a press conference in Bujanovac, Zink said EUR 4mn had already been invested in the accelerated employment programme in south Serbia and that 5,300 persons had been temporarily employed. An international donor conference will be held in Bujanovac, starting today and will see the presentation of development programmes for Bujanovac and the neighbouring municipalities.

The funding comes out of the EUR 240mn funds, pledged by the EU for Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. The investment is going to arrive just at the right time, as Serbia’s southern provinces are recently shattered by ethnic tension, after Serbian police captured major arms depositories and carried out a few arrests.

(NewsBase 07.iii.03)