Agreement on the establishment of the Antenna of Creative Europe Desk in AP Vojvodina signed

The agreement on the establishment of the Antenna of Creative Europe Desk has been signed at the Matica Srpska Gallery, which has created conditions for the overall implementation of the Culture sub-p

The agreement on the establishment of the Antenna of Creative Europe Desk has been signed at the Matica Srpska Gallery, which has created conditions for the overall implementation of the Culture sub-programme, a part of the European Commission’s framework programme – Creative Europe for the territory of AP Vojvodina. The agreement on the establishment of the Antenna of Creative Europe Desk in AP Vojvodina has resulted from the signing of the agreement on Serbia’s participation in the Creative Europe programme signed by the Minister for Culture and Information, Ivan Tasovac and EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou in June 2014, which also stipulates the establishment of an implementation body being an integral part of Desk Creative Europe Serbia.

On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Information, the agreement was signed by the Assistant Minister for International Relations, European Integration and Development of Management in Culture, Asja Drača Muntean, whereas on behalf of the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, the director, Siniša Lazić. The signing ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information, Radoslav Petković, and the host Tijana Pavkovlјević Bugarski MA, director of the Matica Srpska Gallery. On the basis of the document, the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina is entrusted for the programme implementation in AP Vojvodina, first of all, for providing support and assistance to all applicants in the field of culture, institutions and individuals that will apply under the calls for EU funding. According to Siniša Lazić, the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina is satisfied and proud of the fact that their institution has been selected to perform this important task and that the Ministry and the Provincial Secretariat for Culture have recognised them as the partner that will facilitate our cultural institutions and their projects to provide European funding in the most optimal way. The agreement is an institutional framework which will facilitate all those who apply for pre-accession funds, whether they are cultural institutions, NGOs or our artists, to obtain all relevant information and support in order to become beneficiaries of the resources. “I hope that our culture will get a chance to present all the best and most valuable that we have in the best way possible, therefore, the venue where we have signed this agreement, Matica Srpska Gallery has a symbolic meaning“, said the director of European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina.

The Assistant Minister for International Relations, European Integration and Development of Management in Culture, Asja Drača Muntean said that the participation in the Creative Europe programme was one of the conditions in the field of culture (Chapter 26) for our country’s membership in the EU. “Our country is the first non-EU member that has joined the Creative Europe programme, which has certain symbolism and shows that our efforts and ambitions in the process of accession yield results and do not remain unnoticed. It is of great importance for our cultural institutions that in this way we have been given the chance to use the EU pre-accession funds. In addition to establishing the Creative Europe Desk at the Ministry of Culture and Information, in order to bring this programme closer to beneficiaries from AP Vojvodina, whose number was significant in the previous cycles in the framework of Culture sub-programme (2003-2007), we have initiated the establishment of the Antenna of Creative Europe Desk for the territory of the province. In agreement with the Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information, the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina has become our partner in the programme implementation and the today’s agreement will provide the framework for our future cooperation“, said the Assistant Minister for Culture and Information.

Radoslav Petković, Deputy Secretary for Culture of the Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information said that our country, although not being an EU member state, but only a candidate country, had not used enough all the options and advantages offered by the EU funds and cultural programmes, even in the field of culture, and we had to find a way to compensate for the loss. The agreement, created in the cooperation between the national and provincial institutions and the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, would allow better contacts with European institutions and involvement in funds, which would provide our culture with the framework for the implementation of the programme and projects we had not had earlier. The today’s signing of the agreement was also attended by Dimitrije Tadić, Head of Desk Creative Europe Serbia and Luka Kulić, Head of the Antenna of Creative Europe Desk in AP Vojvodina.