Sixteen Western Balkan Public Media Professionals
Awarded EU Mobility Grants

As part of the EU-funded “Innovation. Media. Minds.” program, sixteen international mobility grants have been awarded to media professionals from public service broadcasters across the Western Balkans. The grants were allocated following the program’s second open call for international opportunities.
Eligible applicants included staff and freelancers from public broadcasters in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* [1], Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, who had signed memoranda of understanding with the Goethe-Institut and DW Akademie, and participated in in-house needs assessments.
 

All participating public service broadcasters from the region are represented among the selected grantees. The mobility grants aim to strengthen professional capacities by offering hands-on exposure to EU media standards, tools, and practices. A total of €53,000 has been distributed to support job shadowing, training programs, and participation in international events hosted by EU public broadcasters.

Grantees will spend time at leading institutions, including HRT (Croatia), RTÉ (Ireland), DW (Germany), RAI (Italy), CyBC (Cyprus), RTV Slovenia, YLE (Finland), and ORF (Austria). In addition to job shadowing, participants will join training sessions and media festivals focused on digital and multimedia production, investigative journalism, and emerging trends in the global media landscape. Key events include the ALL DIGITAL Summit (Malta), FIAT/IFTA World Conference, Weekend Media Festival, IPI World Congress Media Innovation Festival 2025, and Prix Italia Festival. The initiative supports not only skill development but also international collaboration and knowledge exchange, contributing to the long-term resilience of public service media in the Western Balkans.

[1] * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999.

Funded by the European Union, the ”Innovation. Media. Minds Program: Support to Public Service Journalism in the Western Balkans”, is managed by the Goethe-Institut on behalf of the European Commission and in collaboration with its implementing partner DW Akademie.