On 25 April 2007, Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas visited Mostar to hand over the keys to fifty-six houses recontructed through the SUTRA project, which is a joint undertaking of the European Union, UNDP, the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands and the BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, in cooperation with the RS and FBiH  ministries, Brcko District and the BiH Return Fund.

The EU allocated 4,000,000 Euro, UNDP contribution 100,000 Euro, the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands provided 2,100,000 Euro while local authorities contributed 3 million Euro.

The contract was signed under the CARDS 2003 Return Programme and is an excellent example of working together in order to enable the local authorities to effectively coordinate, strategically plan and successfully manage the return process. It is also a clear sign of The EU’s full recognition of the maturity of local governments to take over the responsibility of the return of refugees and displaced persons in BiH.

Overall, 498 families will be able move back into their reconstructed houses through SUTRA, with electrical and water supply connections provided and adequate sustainability measures ensured. The project component in Mostar includes reconstruction of 56 houses and accompanying infrastructure and is worth 940,000 KM. An additional infrastructure project of sewage tanks in Mostar was worth approximately 10,000 KM.

The EU is continuing to provide support for return, and this year will spend a further 4 million Euro, with matching funding from the BiH Government. Once again, the municipalities will be most important partners. Mostar is also included in the third phase of SUTRA, with 27 housing units envisaged to be reconstructed.

Ambassador Kourkoulas considers cooperation with municipalities to be a success story. The new project is an expression of confidence in their determination to provide better quality services and to encourage the development of democracy from the bottom up.