As a continuation of the regional laboratory networking workshop held in Skopje in September 2025, the EU-funded project “Capacity Building of Veterinary and Plant Health Services in the Western Balkans – Lot 1 – Animal Health (ADEWB II)” organized a second regional workshop on Strengthening Regional Laboratory Cooperation, held on 4–5 December 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia.

The workshop was implemented under Activity A9.4 – Further development and maintenance of the regional laboratory network in cooperation with EU Reference Laboratories (EURLs) and brought together nominated representatives of National Reference Laboratories from the Western Balkan beneficiary countries, experts from the ADEWB II Project team, and representatives of the EURLs for brucellosis (ANSES) and peste des petits ruminants (CIRAD).

Building on the discussions and conclusions of the Skopje workshop, the Belgrade meeting focused on deepening technical cooperation through disease-specific sessions on brucellosis and PPR diagnostics, with particular emphasis on biosafety, harmonized laboratory workflows, quality assurance, interpretation of results, and alignment with EU reference standards. The workshop further reinforced regional collaboration, facilitated direct exchange with EURLs, and identified concrete next steps for strengthening sustainable laboratory networking and preparedness in the Western Balkans.

The presentations with the adopted agenda may be downloaded with the credentials.

Workshop report can be downloaded here.