Cooperation among WBC and with EU MS *

Albania
Albania negotiated bilateral protocols with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia in 2006, complementing the already established bilateral collaboration with Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Poland and Romania.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bilateral cooperation with Slovenia and Montenegro was launched in 2009. Bosnia and Herzegovina also negotiated protocols with Germany.

Croatia
In Croatia, bilateral collaborations was established with Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, and with WBC in particular with Albania, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

FYR of Macedonia
In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, project cooperation was established for the first time with Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia and the UK. Cooperation with Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Spain will also be initiated.

Montenegro
Montenegro signed S&T bilateral agreements with Austria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. In the near future, cooperation with Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Romania will also be initiated. The agreement with Serbia has been adopted by both governments. It is expected that the signing date will be defined soon.

Serbia
Serbia has ongoing active bilateral programmes with Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia and Slovakia. New bilateral agreements have been concluded with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) of Germany. Furthermore, a bilateral agreement with Bulgaria is in preparation.

* WBC involved are marked in bold.

International Cooperation

Concerning bilateral agreements with countries that are not part of the WBC or the EU, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have the largest number of agreements in force. Serbia cooperates with China, Israel, Norway, the Russian Federation, Switzerland and Turkey and agreements with Belarus, Japan, the Ukraine and the USA are under preparation, while the FYR of Macedonia has agreements with China, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, Switzerland and Turkey.

Apart from the aforementioned bilateral contacts with EU MS and WBC, Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia have bilateral agreements with Turkey in force, which shows that Turkey is cleary the best cross-linked country in this category of countries when it comes to cooperation with the WBC.

Montenegro has no agreements in force yet in this category, but agreements with Switzerland and the Russian Federation are under preparation.

Source, further information and details: pp. 99 ff. of the Cooperation-Opportunities Matrix.