Project successfully completed: “Minority Protection for EU Accession (MPA)

We are pleased to announce our successful completion of the “Minority Protection for EU Accession (MPA)” project. Our colleague Dr. Ljubica Djordjević led the initiative, which has been implemented between January 2023 and June 2025 in the Republic of Serbia.

Funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) within the framework of the Facility supporting the strengthening of Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia, the project aimed to strengthen the protection of national minorities in line with EU accession criteria (Chapter 23).

Key achievements include:

• Development of a methodology for reporting on Serbia’s Action Plan for National Minorities;

• Capacity-building for Councils for Interethnic Relations;

• Training sessions for public administration officials at national, provincial, and local levels;

• Institutional support for National Minority Councils.

Over the course of the project, ECMI organised 14 training sessions, three roundtables, a study visit to the German–Danish border region, and produced three publications — including a Reporting Toolkit, a Study on Minority Symbols and Holidays, and a Brochure on the Role of Councils for Interethnic Relations.

You can find more information about the project here and read an ECMI Minorities Blogpost on the current situation here.