Joint Programme

Horizontal Facility

Representatives of Serbian institutions, the EU and the Council of Europe gathered in Belgrade to assess ongoing results from the joint programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye, highlighting collaborative efforts to support reforms and plan future priorities.

The meeting was opened by representatives of the Ministry of European Integration, the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, and the Council of Europe, who underlined the programme’s role in supporting Serbia’s reform agenda and alignment with European standards. Representatives of beneficiary institutions and civil society also took part in reviewing key developments for 2025.

The review highlighted several key results. Three new treatment programmes were developed with support from the Horizontal Facility to strengthen rehabilitation in prisons focused on empowering women in prisons, supporting junior offenders with life skills, and preventing suicide and self-harm. Legislative and policy work also moved forward with support provided to the drafting of the new anti-trafficking law, to updating the Action Plan for the execution of judgments in the Kačapor group of cases, and to finalising the National Rapporteur’s second report on trafficking in human beings. It was also announced that, as of November 2025 the action Strengthening legal culture in Serbia and the capacities of the judicial and the prosecutorial councilsis now part of the Horizontal Facility programme.

In education, a new Serbian-language web page on democratic culture was launched, and updated guidelines for integrating democratic competences across the curriculum were published, while around 30,000 students took part in activities promoting democratic culture in schools.

Media professionals continued to strengthen their skills through targeted training, including on gender-sensitive reporting and countering SLAPPs.

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a co-operation initiative between the European Union and the Council of Europe, the third phase of which runs from 2023 to 2026. The programme supports Beneficiaries in advancing their reform agendas in human rights, rule of law, and democracy, in line with European standards and EU enlargement priorities.