EU Scraps Grant For Popovic's Women's Project

A group of regional NGOs on Tuesday welcomed the decision of Brussels not to fund a project on women's rights run by the Montenegro-based Institute for Public Policy, found by Vladimir Popovic "Beba".

Under pressure from the civil sector, the EU changed its decision to award 127,000 euros to Popovic's organization, after the  organizations said he had promoted an unworthy campaign against Montenegrin right activist Vanja Calovic, which they said discredited his right to deal with women's issues.

"Given the concern at regional level about the allocation of grants, I asked the executive agency responsible for the implementation of the programme to suspend the signature of this contract," the response from Matthias Ruete, the director general of the Directorate of Migration and Home Affairs in the European Commission, said.

The Belgrade-based NGO Autonomous Women Centre on Tuesday said it was "pleased that the European Commission has adopted such a decision.

"It is generally good news," the NGO added.

In another reaction on the EU decision, the Montenegrin Centre for Women's Rights said the decision gave hope that EU funding competitions are not "just a formality".

In June, 52 NGOs from Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia sent a letter to the President of the European Commission regarding the financing of the Public Policy Institute through the program Europe for Citizens.

The NGOs said the Institute director, Vladimir Beba Popovic, had led an "unworthy campaign" against the civil society activist Vanja Calovic and indirectly against other civil society activists who are critical of the Montenegrin authorities.

The latter called the campaign against Calovic "perfidious and...