Creation of legal, institutional and financial conditions for development of international cooperation

This measure has been implemented through the following activities:

a) In September 2009, ministers of culture of Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina signed "Prijepolje Message", which confirms mutual will to protect and improve cultural diversity of signatory countries, and by which it directly refers to the Convention and other relevant international documents. The goal of the Document is primarily related to intercultural and interreligious dialog, taking into account importance of national, regional and local cultural policy for peace, understanding and tolerance.

b) Expert meeting "Intercultural dialog and film" was held in September 2011, within the scope of the Serbian Presidency of the Central European initiative - CEI. There were representatives of 18 countries members of CEI, as well as several experts in the field of film and audio-visual sector from Great Britain and France.

c) 9th UNESCO Summit of Heads of SEE States entitled "Contemporary art and reconciliation in the region" was held in September 2011 at Roman archaeological site Viminacium in Serbia. Beside Heads of States, there were also ministers of culture from the region and representatives of international organizations - general director of UNESCO, Ms Irina Bokova, general director for education, culture and heritage, youth and sport at the Council of Europe and high level delegation of UNESCO from the regional office in Venice present at the Summit. On that occasion "Viminacium Declaration" was adopted. Declaration emphasizes an essential role of contemporary art for the development of an individual and society as a whole, and for promotion of human rights and value of tolerance, cultural diversity and mutual understanding. Signatories have confirmed their commitment to: continuation of reconciliation and creation of peaceful and prosperous European future of the region, emphasizing special role of contemporary art in those processes; support to artists and their freedom of creation; striving towards cultural cooperation trough work of cultural institutions and organization, artistic initiatives and nongovernmental organizations, as well as through development of necessary facilities; development of regional collection of contemporary art as a means of pledge for the future. Declaration also expresses commitment to broaden participation of artists in decisions-making process in creation of cultural policy, as well as to improvement of social role of artists. Within the scope of the Summit, regional Round table at ministers’ level was held in Belgrade, a day before the Summit in Viminacium, with the group of twenty artists from SEE countries and ministers of culture of countries that participated in the Summit. Topic of this round table was "Contemporary art production in Southeast Europe region - heritage for the future". Its goal was to create a proposal of Platform for action that should offer solid basis for improvement of cooperation between countries and artists in the region, on creation and conservation of future heritage of mankind, consisting also of contemporary art. Round table was held on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Belgrade.

e) VII Ministers’ Conference of Southeast Europe on cultural heritage, entitled "Cultural heritage- a bridge towards joint future", was organized in June 2011, in Belgrade by the Ministry of Culture with the support of UNESCO. On that occasion "Belgrade Declaration" was adopted. Declaration provides guidelines for improvement of international cooperation in SEE, supports development of creative and innovative educational programs, and puts heritage in the function of cultural economy and cultural tourism. Special emphasis has been put on promotion of cultural heritage in regions hit by war or other conflicts, with the intention to raise awareness on cultural diversity of
the region, building of trust in conciliation processes and support developments of local education system, knowledge and skills.

f) Annual Conference of the Council of Ministers of Culture of SEE - The conference was held during the Presidency of Serbia in the CоМоCoSEE. Delegations from 12 countries of SEE region were present, as well as observers from Austria, EU delegations in Belgrade, Regional Cooperation Council, UNESCO- office in Venice. The priorities of the Serbian Presidency of the CоМоCoSEE were directed to measures of audio-visual policy, as a response to economic crisis, taking into account richness and diversity of audio-visual field in Southeast Europe. Two expert meetings were held within the scope of the presidency. The First was organized on the topic "Crisis in film industry in Southeast Europe - challenges of financing of micro-budget films" in March 2012 in the Yugoslav Cinematheque. Opinions were exchanged at the meeting, and mutual goals and examples of good practice in the region were also considered, in order to encourage realization of micro- budget (budget between 75.000 and 250.000 euro) films in the time of economic crisis. On this occasion Serbian initiative on creation of new Regional fund for financing of micro-budget films has been presented.
Second expert meeting entitled "Protection and preservation of audio-visual heritage in Southeast Europe" was organized in the second half of March of the same year, in cooperation with Yugoslav Cinematheque. Representatives from the region participated in the meeting, while observers were from Austria and Council of Europe. It was concluded that it is of crucial importance that SEE countries have unique legislation, unique technological assumptions and as much similar model of institutions as possible, which will need to be public, nonprofitable and to enable equal access to everybody, as well as to be responsible towards past and future. "European convention of the Council of Europe on protection of audio-visual heritage" has been presented at the conference. Conclusions from these expert meetings have become a part of Declaration adopted in April 2012. This meant confirmed willingness for continuation of cooperation in this domain in the region, and it also welcomed recommendation for national institutions in charge of audio-visual sector to establish financing system of films, for the purpose of care for unestablished young creative forces, and to create a study on situation in audio-visual sector in the region, in the area of production, distribution and promotion.