EU Delegation to Serbia head Vincent Degert stated in Vranje on April 2 that the number of collective shelters in Serbia has significantly dropped over the past ten years.

"Until ten years ago, there were more than 300 collective shelters, and now there are fewer than 27, and we hope these will be closed soon," Degert said during the moving in of 20 vulnerable families from the Vranje area into new apartments.

The construction of the building for the refugees was financed by the EU with EUR370,000 within the project "Welfare Housing in Protected Conditions."

During his visit to Vranje, Degert also met with young entrepreneurs at the Business Incubator Center in this town.

The European Union has so far invested around EUR18 million in the southern and southwestern part of Serbia, in order for these regions to become dynamic, he said.

The EU invested EUR45,000 through the Progress program and the City of Vranje 12,400 in equipping the Business Incubator Center and the training of its users. The Center was opened in 2006.