Capping off the year’s activities for the project European Label of Governance Excellence in Croatia, North Macedonia and Kosovo*, an awards ceremony was held in Skopje, North Macedonia, on November 22nd, 2022. 

With all activities and evaluations finalized, the European Association for Local Democracy, ALDA, presented the label to the achieving municipalities on behalf of the Council of Europe. The crystal dodecahedron engraved with the 12 principles of Good Democratic Governance was presented to 9 municipalities from North Macedonia, 6 from Kosovo, and 3 from Croatia who earned the label. 

65 mayors and representatives from the various participating municipalities attended the ceremony. Opening the ceremony was a speech by Risto Penov, the Minister of Local Self-Government of North Macedonia, Elbert Krasniqi, the Minister of Local Self-Government of Kosovo, Oriano Otocan, the President of ALDA, and Antonella Valmorbida, the General Secretary of ALDA. 

Following was a discussion about the importance of the European Label of Governance Excellence with Niall Sheerin of the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance. After that, one representative from each participating country spoke about the ELoGE experience. The participants had the opportunity to hear the testimonials from Berovo, North Macedonia, Labin, Croatia and Lipjan, Kosovo. 

Finishing off the event was the handing out of the awards themselves, followed by an opportunity for the participants to network and exchange. The municipalities will hold the label of one year. 

For the municipalities from North Macedonia, the recipients of the label were Aerodrom, Berovo, Bitola, Vinica, Kumanovo, Negotino, Novaci, Radovis, and Stip.

For the municipalities from Kosovo*, the recipients of the label were Drenas, Gjilan, Hani i Elezit, Lipjan, Mitrovicë, and Shtime.

For the municipalities from Croatia, the recipients of the label were Čakovec, Labin, and Šibenik.