TECHNICAL OFFICE FOR COOPERATION WITH THE BALKANS
OFICINA TÉCNICA DE COOPERACIÓN CON LOS BALCANES

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Albania | Serbia | OTC Balkans - Contact

The Spanish Cooperation at the Balkans relates to the stabilization process initiated after the end of the war which devastated the region in the nineties. Spain has joined forces and collaborated in peace keeping and the region stability maintenance. At the beginning, Spanish support was centered in humanitarian aid, and later on it evolved in projects of cooperation for development.      

In 2001, the AECID establishes the Technical Office for Cooperation with the Balkans
(OTC) in order to coordinate actions of the Spanish Cooperation in the field. With the Main Office in Sarajevo, OTC’s area of competence currently covers Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania, where OTC’s Antenna Office was established in 2005.

The Master Plan 2005-2008 includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Albania, in the category of Special Attention Countries. The first country is going through a long and slow process of reconciliation, return, normalization and sustainability as united and independent state, while the latter, in the European context, is an extremely poor country.
 
On the other hand, Serbia and Montenegro are included in the category of Preferential Countries. The intensity of cooperation in these countries will be decreasing even though they can require specific help in the frame of the Stability Pact for the South Eastern Europe.

The projects in the area of sustainable development, protection of the environment and preservation of natural resources in the Mediterranean also continue as a part of the Azahar Program.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina bears mark of its recent past. The war that struck the country between 1992 and 1995 caused a humane, social and economical catastrophe, which continues to be in the core of this country’s main vulnerabilities.

The Spanish Cooperation has participated actively in the process of pacification and reconstruction since the beginning of the war. In the first stage (1992-1996), all the efforts focused on humanitarian aid; in the second stage (1996-2001), the efforts focused on the strengthening and support to the reconstruction of the country facilitating the return of the refugees and assistance to the most vulnerable groups and, starting from 2001, the cooperation for development was oriented to the Rule of Law consolidation,  sustainable economy establishment and promotion of refugees and displaced persons integration.   

Currently, the Global Strategic Objective of the Spanish Cooperation in BiH is to support the country in the process of stabilization and consolidation of peace, as well as in its advance on the path of integration into the European Union going under the political, economical and social transformations which the mentioned process involves, as stated in the Special Plan of Action  (PAE DOCUMENT for Bosnia and Herzegovina-Executive Summary)

The actions of the Spanish Cooperation correspond to the following Strategic Sector Objectives:
Increase of Social and Institutional Capacities (Democratic Governance) by promoting a representative, participative democracy and political pluralism through a line of action introduced in 2006 with the purpose of strengthening the processes of self-organization and the empowerment of civil society; the strengthening of the Rule of Law, developed through the projects such as the Support to the Creation and Consolidation of the State Judicial Documentation Center, the Support to the Strengthening of the  Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor´s Office of BiH, or the Support to the Creation and Consolidation of the Department for Financial Intelligence; the development of the Administration to the service of the citizens with the purpose of strengthening of the Decentralized Administration and reform of the Public Administration, as well as the support to the process of European Integration.

Increase of Economic Capacities, through the support to the micro and small companies -  a line of action developed in the area of microfinancing with the rural area as its priority; initiatives of support to the company of social economy are also propelled through the projects in the agricultural sector and the participation of the vulnerable groups in those companies; the reinforcement of institutional capacities for the well functioning and allocation of the markets, through the support to the establishment of decentralized public services which would help create the business fabric, as well as provision of infrastructure through the concession of FAD credits which would lead to the improvement and modernization of country’s transportation system. 

Prevention of Conflicts and Peace-making, by focusing available attention and resources on development and human safety through the support to the Small Arms and Ammunition Reduction Programme developed by UNDP in BiH, or contributing to the mine-sweeping training for the Army of BiH. This strategic objective also requires planning in order to include all the actors involved in the peace-making process through the actions of Transitional Justice and support to the victims concentrating the efforts to the stages before the conflict through the support to the returnees and support to the initiatives to end the gender violence in armed conflicts.
 
These actions are fundamentally y primarily concentrated in the region of South Herzegovina (Canton 7 of the Federation of BiH and Region 7 of Republika Srpska), a region known as highly conflictive and divided, as Bosniak and Bosnian Croat populations living in Canton 7 are of similar proportions. On the other hand, Region 7 of the Republika Srpska is where a clear Bosnian Serb majority lives; this facilitates the inclusion of the final of three constituent peoples of BiH in the actions of the Spanish Cooperation.

Also, the actions developed in the “Economic Region of Sarajevo”, a term referring not only to the capital of the country but also to the 26 municipalities of the two Entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, intend to convert the region of Sarajevo in one of the pillars of the country’s development.

Worth a special mention is a great importance the Spanish Cooperation gave to the strengthening and consolidation of the State institutions, as well as to the commitment given to support the country undergoing reforms while advancing towards a full integration into the European Union.

Legal Frame

The Basic Cooperation Agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed in June 2003, and ratified subsequently by the Parliaments of both countries. The Minutes of the First Mixed Commission for Technical, Scientific, Educational and Cultural Cooperation between Spain and Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed on June 20, 2006. (MINUTES OF THE FIRST JOINT COMMISSION).

ALBANIA

After the fall of the comunist regime, Albania set off on the road of reforms in 1991. However, two events had an adverse impact on the start of the mentioned process: the economic crisis in 1997, and the conflict in Kosovo in 1999, which lead to the bancrupcy of the country, a colapse of its institutional order, and a massive flow of refugees in the poorest borderline area in Europe.

The Spanish Cooperation in Albania during the armed conflict in Kosovo was principally directed to the humanitarian aid and was executed through the NGOs which focused their efforts mainly on the effects caused by a massive affluence of refugees to Albania.
Over the past years, the country advanced in political, economic and social aspects. However, these advances still have not reached the whole of the country, which is the reason why Albania still has high poverty rates. With the purpose to increase the level of development, the present Global Strategic Objective of the Spanish Cooperation aims at giving support to the country in the implementation of political, administrative, economic and social transformations which involves the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, as well as at the attainment of the Milenium Development Goals contributing to a well-balanced development of the country paying a special attention to the most vulnerable groups.
 
Activities realized in the frame of the Strategic Plan of Action ( PAE DOCUMENT Albania-Executive Summary) correspond to the following Sector Strategic Objectives:

Enhance Social and Institutional Capacities (Democratic Governance), by reinforcing the Rule of Law, through the projects of training of judges in cooperation with the Judicial School of Albania or projects such as the Support to the Strengthening of the Council of Justice and of Judicial Power in Albania; development of Administration at the service of the public and good administration of public affairs is focused mainly on support to the decentralized administration and the strengthening of institutional and administrative capacity for the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) and development of an administration for European Integration.

         
Enhance Economic Capacities, by giving support to the micro and small enterprises and to the social economy companies, an objective put into practice in the microfinance sector, being rural and suburban areas its priority areas of intervention. Activities on provision of infrastructure are also being carried out through FAD credits aimed at the improvement of basic infrastructure, as well as the actions related to the strengthening of agricultural sector such as the project of Support to the Development of Agrarian Associacionism and Cooperativism in Albania.

Enhance Human Capacities: Education, through the improvement of quality of education, and contribution to the efficient finalization of studies by decreasing the rates of repetition and abandonment, by strengthening the education system through the actions of support to the education reform, training of human resources and improvement of infrastructure and equipment.

Enhance Human Capacities: Health, by strengthening public health systems and contribution to the decrease of mother-child mortality rates.   

Increase of cultural freedom and capacities, through a cultural cooperation for the cultural development and policy in service of development objectives.

There is a considerable inbalance in Albania between the development levels in the capital, Tirana, or the coastal areas - focal point of the major part of international donors' interventions - and the rest of country. Having that in mind, and intending for implementation of SAA to involve not only the Central Administration, but also the Local Administration and the whole of the Albanese civil society, the actions of different actors of the Spanish Cooperation in Albania will fundamentally be of institutional character and national coverage, even though the actions that for its nature have limited geographical area will be concentrated primarily on the districts of Shkodra, Malesi e Madhe and Puka on the North of Albania.

Legal Frame
The Agreement on Economic and Financial Cooperation was signed in February 2000, while the Agreement on Cultural and Education Cooperation of November 25, 1999 came into force in October 2000.

The Friendship and Cooperation Treaty was signed on November 22, 2001.

SERBIA

The armed conflict in Kosovo at the end of the nineties and the fall of Milosevic regime marked the Spanish Cooperation with Serbia and Montenegro. As of year 2001, the Spanish Cooperation strengthens its relations with Serbia and Montenegro carrying out the projects of energy development and gradually increases its activities in the sector of support to the Government and the civil society.

In June 2006, Montenegro declared its independence which put an end to the Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Currently, Serbia is going through a process of transition. The convulsed decade of the nineties resulted in an economical and social collapse caused by the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia which culminated in Kosovo conflict. All this contributed to the dramatic descent of the country’s GDP, a sharp increase of unemployment and an important decrease in salaries and pensions. The majority of population experienced a quick impoverishment, while at the same time a small group was getting rich as a consequence of corruption and organized crime.

Also, the Kosovo province inside Serbia has a special position, being under the interim administration of the United Nations with interim institutions of self-government and a special juridical status defined by the Resolution 1244 of the Security Council of June 9, 1999. The status of Kosovo is one of the challenges Serbia is facing together with the implementation of an institutional, political and economic reforms in accordance to the priorities of the European Union.

The Global Strategic Objective of the Spanish Cooperation is to support Serbia in the process of stabilization and consolidation of peace and democracy, and in its advance on the path of integration into the European Union with the political, economical and social transformations which the mentioned process involves.

The actions will be designated to the strengthening of institutions, and will have national coverage.

The first Strategic Sector Objective is to Increase Institutional and Social Capacities, through the actions aiming at the strengthening of the Rule of Law, with the initiatives of support to the establishment and organization of a new Superior Council of Justice and establishment of an objective and independent system of selection and training of judges; as well as the institutional strengthening in the area of European Integration process.

The second Strategic Objective is the Prevention of Conflicts and Peace-making, with actions aiming at the improvement of the overall environment for the returnees; peace making actions of civil character are also taken in Kosovo.

Also, in the case of Kosovo, activities are being taken in the frame of the Strategic Sector Objective of the Increase of Human Capacities - Education, by contributing to the increase of quality of educational system and the improvement of infrastructure and equipment.

OTC BALKANS

Maguda 18
71000 Sarajevo
TEL: +387 33 584-060
FAX: +387 33 584-066
otc.balcanes@aecid.ba
otc_balk@bih.net.ba

ANTENNA ALBANIA

Tfn.: +355 42 224 693
Fax: +355 42 232 493
antena.albania@aecid.ba
aecialbania@gmail.com