A closing ceremony of the 10th Twinning project ‘Support to the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia in Capacity Building related to the Membership in the European Union’ was held on 11 November in Zagreb, Croatia.
The main goal of the project was to provide capacity building support for the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia and its Centre of Excellence at national and regional level, to build up expertise on EU affairs and to increase the visibility of the Centre of Excellence.
The Head of the European Commission Representation in Croatia Branko Baričević and the Head of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency of Croatia Natasha Žigman Mikuš welcomed the guests.
The Croatian Project Leader Dubravka Smolić Vlaić together and the Lithuanian Project Leader Darius Skusevičius presented results achieved while implementing the project, including recommendations for the legal framework and institutional set-up of the Centre of Excellence, training sessions and roundtable discussions for more than 250 participants from the Centre and municipalities and a long-term training program, a conference for stakeholders, a public relations strategy and an action plan.
“I am happy to share with you the results of the project that were achieved during these six months. I would like to thank each of you for taking an active part in the implementation of the project and for your help. Without your inputs, close cooperation and mutual trust, we certainly wouldn’t have achieved such results. That makes the outcomes of the project even more sustainable,” said Skusevičius.
The project was implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and the Central Project Management Agency in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia and the Central Finance and Contracting Agency of Croatia. The total project budget was 222.222 EUR. 90 per cent was financed by the European Commission and the remaining 10 per cent by Croatia. The duration of the project was 6 months.
