Belgrade, July 26th, 2019

The first joint environmental campaign “Look Around You”, created by the Ministry of European Integration and the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, with the Ministry of the Environmental Protection, is moving into its final phase. Launched with the aim of promoting the importance of environmental protection and raising the awareness of the significance of this topic, the campaign conveyed the message that clean water, cleaner air and soil have no alternative, and that engagement of all citizens, local communities and institutions in Serbia is necessary in order to protect everyone’s living environment.

The campaign began with a debate on the environmental situation in our country on June 12th, followed by the “Trash challenge”, while “Užice, Šabac and Subotica” hosted “EU Green Day” events, one-day tours to environmental plants built with EU support. As part of the campaign, a national caricature and short comics contest “This is the Earth for us – activate yourself for the environment” was organized, and a mural of griffon vulture made from recycled material was installed at Elementary School “Ivan Goran Kovačić” building in Belgrade.

The European Union is also the largest partner and support to our country when it comes to environmental protection. To protect the environment in our country, the EU has donated 402 million euros in the last 19 years. The EU environmental standards are the highest in the world, and this area is certainly one of the key issues for Serbia’s accession to this organization. Actually chapter 27 deals with this – water, air and soil quality. However, success in this chapter requires a collective effort to meet all the goals defined in it, thus “Look Around You” campaign is a serious step in raising the awareness of Serbian citizens about the importance of this topic.

EU donations in the field of environmental protection in Serbia

The largest number of EU donations has been invested in the construction of wastewater treatment plants, regional landfills, construction and renewal of water supply systems, air protection systems, medical waste management systems. The European Union has so far, with the Government of the Republic of Serbia, invested 210 million euros in water protection and water supply. The donations were invested in wastewater treatment plants in Subotica, Šabac, Vrbas, Leskovac and Kula, as well as in regional water supply systems, while they were rebuilt in Požarevac, Indjija and Petrovac on Mlava, and a brand new one was built in Veliko Gradište. The European Union has provided financial support of 53 million euros for air protection systems and industrial pollution prevention. With these funds, TENT and Kolubara have been reconstructed and made more safe for the environment, and a network of 28 control stations has been built to automatically measure air quality. In addition, 33 million were invested in construction of four regional landfills in Pirot, Užice, Subotica and Sremska Mitrovica / Šabac and a medical waste management system was developed.

The European Union plans to continue this long-term and strong partnership with Serbia over the upcoming years, through numerous environmental projects in the cities and municipalities throughout our country.

For all LOOK AROUND YOU campaign details, visit: http://www.pogledajokosebe.rs/#section_3d47cdc1

Source: Blic

Photo: Promo / Promo