News

• Eusair

The first double hat "Adriatic and Ionian Council/ EUSAIR Ministerial Meeting" took place last 12 May in the city of Dubrovnik.

The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Croatian Republic, Mr. Miro Kovač, and attended by the eight Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative, as well as by the 8 Ministers responsible a for EU funds and by the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Mrs. Corina Creţu.

The Dubrovnik Declaration (enclosed) issued by Ministers focused on renewing the commitment of the eight countries on passing from words to deed in the implementation phase of the EUSAIR as well as on finding new ways of the EUSAIR can support AII countries affected by the refugee and migration crisis.

The meeting was preceded (on the previous day) by the last AII Committee of Senior Officials of the Croatian Chairmanship aimed at fine tuning the Dubrovnik Declaration and at reporting on a years of activities by the Presidency.

The XIV Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative took place in Split on 15-16 April 2016.

This meeting comes in a very crucial moment for Regional Cooperation in the Adriatic and Ionian area only few weeks before the first EUSAIR Forum to be held in Dubrovnik on 12-13 May.

The Conference resulted in strengthened parliamentary cooperation in the Adriatic and Ionian area on the refugee and migration crisis and on the support to the "European Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region".

Furthermore, based on a decision taken during the XIII Conference of Speakers in Neum, the AII Speakers established a network of high officials of National Parliaments aimed at facilitating a permanent exchange of information and experiences among the parliaments on EUSAIR and AII issues.

The Secretary General of the AII addressed the Speakers informing them about the intergovernmental activities of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative during this year, particularly concerning its role of intergovernmental anchorage to the EUSAIR.

The Regional Cooperation Meeting, gathering the Secretariats of European Regional Organizations, had its traditional annual session in Budapest at the premises of the Danube Commission.

The President and the Director General of the Danube Commission hosted the meeting that was attended by representatives of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the Baltic Sea States Council, the Central European Initiative, the Regional Cooperation Council, the Union for the Mediterranean and the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative.

The delegates discussed about possible synergies among their organizations and shared their own experience of regional cooperation. Security cooperation (in terms of terrorism threats and refugee crisis) aroused as a new priority to be tackled by all regional organizations and an exchange of information and experiences on this issue was deemed advantageous.

• Eusair

The 3^rd Meeting of the Governing Board of the European Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) took place on February 24 in Brussels.

The main topic of the meeting was the organization of the “First EUSAIR Forum” in Dubrovnik. In this context both practical and conceptual aspects were discussed, including how to coordinate efforts with the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative considering that, for the first time, a “double hat” Ministerial Meeting will issue a single Adriatic and Ionian Council / EUSAIR Ministerial Declaration.

The meeting was also intended to update delegates on the latest developments, the work plan for 2016 and on the activities carried out by Thematic Steering Groups after three rounds of meetings.

Concluding, the Governing Board discussed questions related to the ADRION program, its state of play, and the Strategic project “EUSAIR Facility Point”.