Korea Provides $500,000 for Projects in the Western Balkans and EaP Countries

In the follow-up to the second Summit between the Republic of Korea and the Visegrad Group held in November 2021, the government of the Republic of Korea has provided financial support to the International Visegrad Fund in the amount of US$ 500,000. The International Visegrad Fund is committed to using the generous contribution by the Korean government under its regular Visegrad+ Grant scheme focused on democratization and transformation processes in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries. The first two projects financed by the government of the Republic of Korea are dedicated to the reform processes in Armenia and automatization of public procedures in Kosovo, implemented accordingly by the Armenian Centre for Policy Studies and the Open Data Kosovo together with partners from the Czechia, Hungary, Poland and/or Slovakia.

“The Korean support is a tangible example of the long-term cooperation between the Republic of Korea and our region,” says Petr Mareš, director of the Fund. Historically, this cooperation has been focused on joint assistance to the countries outside of the Visegrad region in the form of grant projects on democratization and transformation as well as extraordinary COVID-related healthcare projects in Georgia and Ukraine. The Republic of Korea is the Fund’s long-standing partner and, by having invested €1.2 mil., its second-biggest external donor to date.

The closest deadline for grant applications at the International Visegrad Fund is October 1, 2022.