9 January 2009 – Belarus will get access to ENPI funding as part of the Baltic Sea Region programme

Signing of an agreement between Belarus and the EU on the funding of cross-border cooperation programme would lead to Belarusian organisations getting access to the funding of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) within the framework of the Baltic Sea Region Programme.

European Commission specifically allocated part of ENPI funding to support participants of the BSR programme from Belarus and Russia. However, in order to receive actual funding, Belarus and Russia had to sign a financial agreement with the European Commission until the end of 2008. According to the BSR official website, Belarus managed to keep the deadline and signed the agreement on 31 December 2008, while Russia did not sign the agreement at all.

Further distribution of the ENPI funding will be discussed at the meeting of the Task Force of the BSR Monitoring Committee on 14 January.

Source: IURI Belarus, official website of the Baltic Sea Region programme www.eu.baltic.net.