Ana Novak, Author at CEP

On SI-UA development cooperation at the 12th EUSDR Annual Forum

26. 10. 2023 | Decentralisation, local self-government, PR, Regional cooperation, Slovenian Development Assistance, U-LEAD: with Europe

At the 12th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region held under the Slovenian Presidency, CEP’s Executive Director, Ms Nina Čepon, contributed to the panel discussion titled ”Bottom-up recovery and transformation of Ukraine–Supporting Ukraine and Moldova on their way to the EU” on the 24th of October.

She shed light on CEP’s impactful collaboration with Ukrainian municipalities, a process initiated back in 2018 under the scope of the Programme ‘U-LEAD with Europe’ implemented by the German organization GIZ in Ukraine. The dedication to enhancing Ukrainian municipalities continues through our ongoing development project titled ‘Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Ukraine’ funded by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and implemented in partnership with ‘U-LEAD with Europe’.

This project remains committed to transferring knowledge tailored to specific needs and providing sustainable assistance to Ukrainian municipalities as they advance in their development, modernization and contribute to the Ukrainian path toward EU membership while dealing with the everyday challenges of wartime. Activities are focusing on topics such as green transition, civil protection and resilience, economic development, anti-corruption and transparency in local governance, and deliver an important skillset to raise their absorption capacities in terms of donor engagement, namely those of efficient planning, project appraisal and obtainment of external funding.

Čepon emphasised that Ukrainian municipalities are set to play a pivotal role in post-conflict reconstruction and development in Ukraine as they are forward-looking, and they strive toward economic development and other objectives despite being faced with their complex everyday circumstances at this time. Slovenia’s wealth of experience in modernization and the EU accession process promises to bring significant, concrete value.

In-country visits continue with a visit to Sarajevo and Belgrade

13. 10. 2023 | PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries

Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is continuing its in-country visits to the Western Balkans, with back-to-back visits to Sarajevo and Belgrade, on 24 and 27 October, respectively.

Joined by international and local experts and practitioners, we will discuss country-specific challenges and priorities in countering foreign-perpetrated disinformation. The program for each visit will take into account the inputs of national working groups from our regional capacity-building conference in Portoroz earlier this year, as well as consider new developments in the joint EU and Euro-Atlantic efforts to counter the threat of foreign-perpetrated disinformation.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we will thus look at the example of Belgium to discuss the issues of establishing effective defence mechanisms in a complex state structure. Moreover, we will talk about the money and financing aspects in both the proliferation, and in countering disinformation.

In Serbia, we will look at best practices of national systems of countering disinformation, as can be found in Estonia or Finland. In addition to national efforts, we will also consider the potential benefits of multilateral cooperation in this field.

The events are open to representatives of government, media, civil society, academia, the international community and all other interested members of the public.

If you would like to join, you can register your attendance at the following links:

The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.

Successful consultation meeting on Slovenian-Ukrainian municipal cooperation

3. 10. 2023 | PR, Regional cooperation, Slovenian Development Assistance, U-LEAD: with Europe

A successful consultation meeting on Slovenian-Ukrainian cooperation and aid to Ukraine in post-conflict reconstruction and modernization was held yesterday at Jable Castle.

The event, organised with the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia (SOS), followed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Republic of Slovenia and U-LEAD with Europe Programme, and was intended to analyze the achievements to date, good practices in the cooperation projects of Slovenian municipalities with Ukraine to date, and a look into the future of cooperation between Slovenia and Ukraine in the field of post-conflict reconstruction and modernization. i.e. current needs, challenges and our tasks in advance.

Joining us were the Mayor of Domžale, mag. Renata Kosec, Mayor of Hrastnik, Mr Marko Funkl, Mayor of Logatec, Mr Berto Menard, Mayor of Idrija, Mr Tomaž Vencelj, Mayor of Kočevje, Dr Vladimir Prebilič, and Mayor of Lenart, Mr Janez Kramberger. We were delighted to welcome the delegation from the Ukrainian municipality Bucha, with the First Secretary of the Bucha City Council, Mr Taras Sharapivsky and the Head of International Relations of the City Council, Ms Viktoriya Danilova.

The discussions touched upon the Slovenian-Ukrainian cooperation of municipalities within the U-LEAD with Europe initiative “Bridges of Trust” and the CEP-led project Post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine, financed by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. Both projects aim to improve the institutional capacity of Ukrainian communities Bibrka, Bucha, Drohobych, Hnivan, Krynychansk, Pereščepensk and Polyana, in the spheres of reconstruction and local development, as well as in terms of nationwide efforts for accession to the EU. The mentorship program will be implemented by the Slovenian municipalities of Domžale, Hrastnik, Idrija, Lenart, Logatec, Kočevje and Puconci with the assistance of Slovenian experts.

During the event, the municipality of Kočevje signed a cooperation agreement with the city of Bucha with the intention of deepening cooperation in various fields, business relationships in the field of high-technology development.

Bucha’s representatives are continuing their visit to Kočevje today, where they met with representatives of the Japanese company Yaskawa and representatives of the Kočevje business area. They will also join the festivities on the municipal holiday.

The project and the event are funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.

Successful conclusion to the in-country visit in North Macedonia

8. 9. 2023 | PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries

Za branje prispevka v slovenščini kliknite tukaj.

The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans has concluded its in-country visit to North Macedonia. On 5 September, members of the government, civil society, media and the international community in Skopje joined a half-day event dedicated to exploring the current activities and best practices in countering disinformation.

Representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Hybrid CoE and the Government of Estonia presented the theoretical and practical approaches to developing a national mechanism for countering disinformation, reflecting as well on the EU priorities, activities and support to the Western Balkans in that regard.

Speakers from North Macedonia, namely from the Citizens’ Association MOST and the Metamorphosis Foundation, tracked the current threat of disinformation in the country and the developments in terms of the joint, whole-of-society action to counter this threat, respectively.

The event saw a lively discussion and exchange among the participants, with great interest from the stakeholders in learning from the best practices of EU Member States and the EU as a whole.

In addition to the whole-of-society event, the Project also held consultations with government officials to trace the progress and discuss remaining challenges.

The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.

Representatives of WB media and civil society meet at Bled Strategic Forum 2023

31. 8. 2023 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries

On 28 August 2023, Western Balkans media and civil society representatives gathered at the margins of the Bled Strategic Forum for a roundtable discussion, ‘The Line Is(n’t) Thin: Fact v. Opinion, Regulation v. Censorship’. Joining the discussion was a Deutsche Welle journalist and a Global Diplomacy Lab member, Burak Ünveren. Together, participants exchanged experiences regarding the role and position of fact-checking in their respective countries, touched upon the challenges of journalism and effective communication of facts to society in the digital, ‘post-truth’ age, emphasized the risks inherent to the current business model of media outlets and noted the difficulties in maintaining an effective government-media-civil society relationship. Participants also weighed government intervention’s pros and cons in introducing counter-disinformation regulation. While there is no clear-cut answer to any of these questions, ensuring the sustainability of professional and quality journalism and supporting journalistic standards was heralded as a priority for all societies.

The discussion was organised under the framework of the ‘Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in the Western Balkans’ project. The project also allowed participants to attend the panels of the 18th Bled Strategic Forum, held in Bled on 28-29 August.