Representatives of the EU, UN agencies and Serbian state institutions visit Kikinda

Kikinda, April 12th, 2018 – Nicolas Bizel, Head of Operations in the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Pavle Markov, Mayor of the City of Kikinda, representatives of Serbian state institutions and UN agencies, visited today the Reception Centre for Migrants and Health Centre in Kikinda. The delegation also participated in a volunteer action in Banatska Topola village. The visit has been organized within the European Union Support to Migration Management in the Republic of Serbia.

Head of Operations in the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia and the officials visited the Reception Centre in Kikinda where 130 migrants and refugees are accommodated. The delegation was ensured that the Reception Centre functions smoothly thanks to the European Union donations. The Reception Centre was renovated to a large extension and the accommodation and living conditions were improved – children playground and fence around the Centre were constructed, lights and video surveillance were installed during the last few months. In addition, the dining room and the kitchen were completely renovated in the value of approximately 184.000 Euros.

Nicolas Bizel handed over a specialized medical vehicle in the value of 21.000 Euros, donated to the Health Centre “Kikinda. The vehicle will facilitate the transport of patients from the Health Centre to the higher-level institutions for health protection. The analyser worth 20.000 Euros, donated by the EU to The Institute of Public Health, will contribute significantly to efficiency of the laboratory.

The visit to Kikinda ended in Banatska Topola village where volunteer action of afforestation took place. In joint action, the local volunteers and migrants from the Reception Centre planted 400 seedlings that will serve as protection from soil erosion by ground water.

“I am very pleased with what I have seen today in Kikinda and I was convinced myself that the assistance of the European Union was adequately used and that it reached those who needed it most. We have improved functioning of the health protection in Kikinda so that the medical treatment will be facilitated for locals, as well as for migrants and refugees accommodated in the Reception Centre. The European Union supports functioning of this and other reception and asylum centres. By support I refer to providing assets for adequate accommodation, food, access to health protection and education for children, school transport, protection of migrants, especially children and other vulnerable categories. In addition, our support implies also operational expenditures in the reception centres and cost for employees”, stated Nicolas Bizel commending the activity of afforestation as yet another sort of a social cohesion between migrants and locals.

Pavle Markov, Mayor of the City of Kikinda expressed gratitude to the European Union on behalf of the City of Kikinda for recognising the needs of the City and for taking part in improvement of the quality of life of its citizens as well as refugees and migrants who live on its territory.

“Hereby, it was proved once again that the City of Kikinda jointly with representatives of the European Union can and is willing to implement projects of great importance for its fellow citizens. This cooperation resulted in improvement of accommodation conditions in the Reception Centre for migrants, along with the necessary support to the Social Welfare Centre, Health Sector and the Public Utility Company.

We will certainly continue this fruitful cooperation and, as a City, we are already considering the future EU projects to improve living conditions of all citizens of Kikinda”, Markov emphasized.

The aforementioned activities of support to Kikinda as a host city of migrants were implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Organization for Migration (IOM) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

For more information about the EU Support to Migration Management in Serbia visit the web page:

euinfo.rs/podrska-eu-upravljanju-migracijama/