BELGRADE — The planned construction of a Faculty of Economics building in Bujanovac, southern Serbia, will make the town “a university town.”
It will also “create conditions for economic development and political stability in the area,” the signatories of an agreement to construct the facility have said.
The project will be funded by the European Union and the Serbian government’s Coordination body for the Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa municipalities, and an agreement on understanding was signed on Wednesday by Bujanovac mayor Nagib Arifi and the dean of the Faculty of Economics in Subotica Nenad Vunjak.
The signing ceremony was attended by the head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport, OSCE Mission head Peter Burkhard, Serbia’s Minister of Education Tomislav Jovanović, the head of the Coordination body Zoran Stanković, and Graeme Tyndall, an official of the United Nations Office for Project Services.
The signing of the agreement will create conditions for long-term development of higher education in the area in full compliance with the relevant Serbian laws, taking into account the needs of the local self-government authorities and the citizens, Davenport said.
The construction of the building will enable young people in Bujanovac and the entire area – Albanians, Serbs, Roma and all others – to exercise their right to education and develop their potentials, and they will be able to plan a future in their town, rather than plan to leave, he said.
Burkhard pointed out that the OSCE Mission, its Bujanovac office in particular, worked on the project for years.
As of today, Bujanovac can be referred to as a university town, Arifi said, adding that the higher education institution will contribute to both economic development and political stability.
The construction will be funded by the EU through donations worth EUR 1.2 million, the Coordination body will set aside RSD 30 million, while the Bujanovac municipality will provide whatever else is required, Stankovic said.
Tyndall said that the United Nations Office for Project Services supports the construction of the faculty building in Bujanovac.
A department of the Faculty of Economics in Subotica has been operating in Bujanovac for the past three years. It currently has 256 students – ethnic Albanians, Serbs, and Roma.
