The Ministry of European Affairs (MEP) has supported 100 projects of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with more than 13 thousand euros within the "Dialogue for Europe" competition, the government department announced.
They stated that representatives of 13 NGOs, whose projects were supported within the public competition, signed contracts for this year today with the Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević.
"The competition, which was announced at the beginning of May, is intended to finance projects and programs of non-governmental organizations in the field of Euro-Atlantic and European integration," the MEP reminded.
As they said, the total value of supported projects is 103,6 thousand euros, and 37 applications were received for the competition.
The statement emphasizes that based on the assessments of independent evaluators and the decision of the MEP commission, the highest quality project proposals were supported.
Gorčević said that the European integration process is not just a job for institutions, but a social project.
According to her, without the involvement of citizens, local communities and organizations that work in the field every day, there is no true Europeanization of society.
"The projects we support today contribute to exactly what our society needs most - more knowledge about the European Union (EU), more public dialogue, more inclusion, especially among young people and vulnerable groups," said Gorčević.
The statement states that the supported projects address key topics of European integration - from informing citizens about the negotiation process and the benefits of membership, through the inclusion of young people and vulnerable groups, to the promotion of European values, the rule of law and environmental protection.
"I am particularly pleased that the supported projects are thematically diverse, regionally distributed and aimed at different target groups - from young people and people with disabilities, to local authorities and justice professionals. This shows that the European agenda is present and alive in all parts of society," said Gorčević.
The representative of the NGO "Network for European Policies MASTER", Milutin Vuković, said that the implementation of the project "Your MASTER Step towards the EU" will increase the level of information of citizens about the process of joining the Union.
"We will continue to promote EU values and inform, especially young people, about future membership, because they will have the most benefits," said Vuković.
The NGO Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) received money for a project called "EUROHUB28 - Montenegro in the EU by 2028", which aims to improve the judiciary and prosecutorial sector.
CEDEM representative Nevenka Vuksanović said that they focused the project on implementing training for prosecutors, but also wanted to stimulate young lawyers to choose the prosecutorial profession.
"This is one of the things that our judicial system is struggling with, and we want to specifically direct young people towards the judiciary and prosecution," added Vuksanović.
The representative of the NGO Center for Civic Education, Petar Đukanović, presented the project "EU Compass for Youth", which will focus on organizing the "School of European Negotiations".
"The expectations are that young people will learn more about the negotiation process itself and the topics addressed in the negotiation process through the School, and that we will also encourage their activism," said Đukanović.
The MEPs announced that they will continue to strongly support the inclusion of citizens in the European integration process through dialogue, cooperation and participatory initiatives.
"I believe that these projects will bring concrete results on the ground - more knowledge, more participation and more confidence in Montenegro's European future," concluded Gorčević.
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