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EU enlargement
Since it was founded in 1958, the EU has regularly accepted new member countries. Each applicant country must meet certain requirements before membership is permitted.
“This is exactly what I needed,” an entrepreneur from Gracanica, Azemina Ahmedbegovic, said at the end of the cultural heritage exhibition organized by the Association of Business Women in BiH in Sarajevo in December 2018. “Sometimes I get discouraged by a lack of opportunity, but this evening boosted my confidence in our work,” she adds with a smile on her face.
The European Union is supporting Albania’s efforts to provide quality public services for its citizens and move closer to European good administration practices.
Both in New York and Brussels this week, the EU is working with the Western Balkans partners to accelerate reforms and the integration process, including through promoting effective regional cooperation.
During a visit to Skopje on 13 September, the High Representative / Vice-President Federica Mogherini reconfirmed the European Union’s support to the country’s EU integration perspective and invited political leadership to move forward with the same vision and the same enthusiasm to make the recent progress irreversible.
By developing unique and sustainable tourism models based on natural, traditional and cultural values and promoting the best features of the Western Balkans, the European Union helps boost economic development, generate income and jobs and increase cross-border cooperation in the region’s most beautiful corners.
In the Western Balkans in 2018, we walked along the Cultural Heritage Route, which consisted of a series of initiatives and events on material and immaterial heritage, supported by the European Union and its Member States. The Route aimed to connect and highlight events organised by the EU Delegations and EU National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), in close cooperation with local civil society, celebrating cultural heritage in all its forms.
