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18 October 2022
Concert held at Berane Cultural Centre to mark European Cooperation Day 2022
Overview

The Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro marked this year's European Cooperation Day in the northern municipality of Berane, topping the celebration with a free concert at the Cultural Centre. 

A delegation of the Ministry, headed by State Secretary Aleksandar Mašković, together with Yngve Engström, Head of Cooperation Section at the EU Delegation in Montenegro, paid a visit to the Municipality of Berane and visited a number of successful projects implemented in this Montenegrin town. 

The delegation met officials from the Municipality of Berane, headed by mayor Vuko Todorović, so as to discuss the current EU-funded projects and funding opportunities under the new IPA III programming period. 

"Berane is one of the best examples of how EU funds are managed effectively, so it is not a coincidence why we chose to mark this year's European Cooperation Day in this town. I am positive that the Municipality of Berane will continue to be a successful beneficiary of EU-funded projects", said State Secretary in the Ministry of European Affairs Aleksandar Mašković. 

The delegation and Municipality officials jointly visited several EU-funded projects implemented in this municipality, including the CO-CLEAN project, which has been supported through the Interreg IPA CBC Italy-Albania- Montenegro Programme. The project aims to increase energy efficiency in the programme area through the implementation of innovative and consolidated actions, training and awareness-raising activities. 

Aside from the Municipality of Berane, project partners include Municipality of Brindisi (IT), Municipality of Racale (IT), Consorzio per lo Sviluppo Industriale della Valle del Biferno (IT) and the Municipality of Vlorë (AL).

As part of the €693.350.00 worth project, the Municipality of Berane reconstructed the heating system in the Cultural Centre and transitioned to a more energy efficient source – pellet heating. As a result, the Cultural Centre is now able to remain open throughout the whole year. 

"The project completely fulfilled its purpose, as we not only managed to substantially decrease energy bills in winter, but we also saw an increased number of visitors during cold months. We are now able to host different events and programmes all year long, which was not the case before," said Tamara Kenjić, deputy director of the Berane Cultural Centre. 

To commemorate European Cooperation Day and celebrate the results of this successful project, a free concert by KIC pop choir from Podgorica was held in the evening at the Cultural Centre, with people of all ages attending, including children. 

Dressed in T-shirts featuring the Programme logo and the thematic visual representing European Cooperation Day 2022, KIC pop choir stirred the hearts of Berane residents by performing songs by regional stars such as Zdravko Čolić, Oliver Dragojević, Darko Rundek, Idoli, Tijana Dapčević and Knez, well-known international hits such as 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA ‘City of Stars' by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, as well as traditional songs such as the world-famous Italian resistance song ‘Bella ciao' and the Jewish folk song Hava Nagila. 

The concert closed off with a two-song encore, when the children from the crowd joined the choir up on stage and sang together with them, which perfectly matched with this year's ECD slogan 'Youth for Cooperation'.