Keys to ten newly-built Regional Housing Programme (RHP) apartments were delivered to refugee families in Kraljevo, Serbia. To date, more than 6 700 RHP homes have been allocated to beneficiaries across Serbia, one of the four Partner Countries of the RHP.
In addition to the beneficiaries themselves, the delivery of keys ceremony was attended by Svetlana Velimirović, Deputy Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia; Predrag Terzić, Mayor of Kraljevo; H.E. Urs Schmid, Ambassador of Switzerland in Serbia; Mirjana Maksimović, representing the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia, and Dušan Kovačević, Head of the Public Sector Projects Implementation Unit Ltd., amongst others.
Congratulating the beneficiaries on their new homes, Ambassador Schmid expressed Switzerland’s hope that the apartments would continue to respond to the needs of the families for years to come.
Deputy Commissioner Velimirović meanwhile noted the gravity of the occasion for the families concerned: “This is a significant day for those who have finally received their new homes,” she said. “While it is the end of a thorny road of 30 years since they left their homes and came to Serbia, it is also the beginning of a new and better life.”
Echoing these words, Mayor Terzić additionally referred with pride to the role played by his city. “Kraljevo accepted tens of thousands of refugees from the former Yugoslavia and, thanks to the State and RHP Donors, we have managed to provide permanent housing for our new residents,” he said.
Nevena Jokić, one of the beneficiaries, warmly thanked RHP stakeholders on behalf of her family.
EU support for peace, reconciliation, and good neighbourly relations in Serbia has reached more than EUR300 million. The assistance is aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and stability and tackling pending bilateral issues and legacies of the past. The EU has secured EUR74 million to support housing and employment of the most vulnerable refugee families and internally displaced persons. The goal of a regional programme implemented in this sector is to improve the lives of 74,000 people, or around 27,000 families, from the territory of former Yugoslavia. The overall budget is estimated at approximately EUR584 million for a five-year period.