On the occasion of its meeting in Belgrade on 9-11 November under the Serbian Presidency, the CEI Parliamentary Assembly adopted a Final Declaration which stresses the importance of EU integration for the Western Balkans and of strengthening relations between EU-Eastern Partnership Countries.
The Assembly, chaired by Mr. Ivan Jovanovic, represented the closing event of the Parliamentary Dimension under the Serbian Presidency after the Meeting of the CEI General Committee on Political and Home affairs (Rome, 7 April 2011), the CEI Parliamentary Committee (Belgrade, 19- 21 May 2011) and the CEI Enlarged Troikas held in occasion of the Meeting of the CEI Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Trieste, 10 June 2011).
During their gathering in Belgrade, the Parliamentarians recalled the urgency to give concrete implementation to regional cooperation. To this end, the CEI - the oldest regional forum promoting regional dialogue with a long-standing project-oriented approach - was recognised as a crucial instrument for an accelerated social and economic development and elaboration of reforms towards EU integration. This is even more so thanks to its role in acting as a “bridge between macro regions”.
In this respect, the steps taken by the CEI during 2011 in order to strengthen this role were acknowledged by the CEI Parliamentary Assembly: namely, among others, the request to obtain the Observer Status at the UN General Assembly, the perspective of enhancing economic cooperation through the establishment of a CEI Business Forum and the establishment of a CEI Network of Civil Society Organisations to strengthen their voice at regional level.
In 2012 the CEI Parliamentary Dimension will be chaired by Ukraine. One of the first events to be implemented under the 2012 Ukrainian Presidency will be, as announced in Belgrade, the Meeting of the General Committee on Cultural Affairs, in Bolzano/Bozen (Italy) in April 2012 which will focus on “Autonomy, Protection of Minorities and Cultural Heritage as Tools for Peace”.
For more information: mameli@cei-es.org
