Interreg is one of the key instruments of the European Union (EU) supporting cooperation across borders through project funding. It aims to jointly tackle common challenges and find shared solutions in fields such as health, environment, research, education, transport, sustainable energy and more.

Several Interreg programmes are geographically relevant for the Western Balkans, for example:

• Interreg ADRION (Adriatic Ionian)
• Interreg Danube Region Programme
• Interreg EURO-Med

Covering all of Europe including the Western Balkans, URBACT provides support to towns and cities in EU pre-accession countries – Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Their participation in the URBACT programme is financed by the EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). This programme is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with a budget of EUR 79 769 000 and by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance with a budget of EUR 5 000 000 for the period 2021-2027.

Furthermore, specific Interreg Cross-Border Cooperation programmes are focusing on particular WBs and their borders, such as:

• Interreg IPA CBC Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro
• Interreg IPA CBC Croatia – Serbia
• Interreg IPA CBC Bulgaria – Republic of North Macedonia
• Interreg IPA CBC Bulgaria – Serbia
• Interreg IPA CBC Greece – Albania
• Interreg IPA CBC Greece – Republic of North Macedonia
• Interreg IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro
• Interreg IPA CBC Romania - Serbia

https://interreg.eu/strand-of-cooperation/interreg-instrument-for-pre-accession-assistance/

With a budget of 6.7 billion EUR, the 73 cross-border Co-operation programmes for 2021-2027 aim to boost cooperation actions across borders between neighbouring regions and countries. These cross-border programmes are made up of 49 internal programmes, 24 external (10 IPA and 14 NEXT) and the PEACE + programme.