News

The activities for the projects entitled “SAFE ADRIA” and “COOPERADRIA”, started last week with kick-off meetings in Venice, Italy, on the premises of the Consortium for the Intermodal and Logistics Training (CFLI), the training structure owned by the Venice Port Authority.

The Central European Initiative, in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organised on 22-24 March, a meeting, in Trieste, with the ambassadors representing the CEI Member States accredited to Rome and with the Italian Ambassadors accredited to the CEI Member States.

The event was an opportunity to present a survey of the CEI activities carried out over the past years as well as to illustrate the steps taken in order to implement its core mission: regional cooperation for a European integration.

CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, met on 9 March 2011, with  Deputy Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Mrs Jelica Minić in Sarajevo. 

CEI Secretary General, Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, met Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Ana Trišić-Babić in Sarajevo on  9 March 2011. At the centre of discussions was the role of the CEI in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The project on Technical Assistance and Sharing of Best Practices for the Promotion of Female Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Services in Croatia was successfully concluded on 8 March 2011 with a Final Conference organised in Pordenone (Italy).

The CEI and BSEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 7 March 2011 at the BSEC Headquarters in Istanbul.

The first meeting of the Committee of CEI National Coordinators under the Serbian Presidency was held in Belgrade on 21 February 2011.

The activities for the Project entitled “Krapina Zagorje County Rural Development Strategy” started last week (25 February) with a kick-off meeting in Zabok, Croatia.

The final conference of the KEP AUSTRIA Project “Istria Getting Prepared for Structural Funds”, co-financed by the CEI with funds from the Austrian Development Agency, was held on 21 February 2011 at Villa Polesini in Porec (Croatia).

On 16 February 2011, the CEI hosted the annual Executive Board meeting of the Science & Technology Network (S&TN) at its Headquarters in Trieste.

Co-financed by the Italian Government’s contribution to the CEI Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) through the CEI Trust Fund at the EBRD and by the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy), the  Project Financial Facilities for SMEs: Training and Capacity Building for Business Support Organisations in the non-EU Member States of the Central European Initiative is implemented by Informest.

On 3 February, the CEI participated in the WIN-ICT final review meeting in Zagreb. The gathering aimed at assessing project results by independent evaluators and the EC Project Officer, who made a thorough appraisal of project outputs and achievements.

On 31 January, in the context of European Commission consultations on the Baltic Adriatic Corridor, the Project on the Accessibility and Development for the Re-launch of the Inner Adriatic Area  (Adria-A) was presented as the south terminal of the Baltic Adriatic Corridor by the Head of the Transport Directorate of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Riccardo Riccardi assisted by Project Manger, Carlo Fortuna

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification, the Central European Initiative, the Austrian Forum of Culture in Milan as well as the Institute for Mittleeuropean Cultural Meetings of Gorizia organised a panel discussion entitled “Patria Italia Unita – Sempre Irredenta?”*. This important event took place on 10 February at the CEI Headquarters in Trieste.

The Central European Initiative in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Environment and Territory hosted the 4th meeting of the “UNESCO World Heritage” Working Group under the Alpine Convention.

On 28 January, State Secretary of Transport Igor Jakomin, had an exchange of views with Secretary General Ambassador Pfanzelter on ways and means to strengthen the cooperation between Slovenia and the Central European Initiative. Special attention was paid to common EU projects and initiatives in the field of transport.

The CEI Award for outstanding contributions to filmmaking in Central and Eastern Europe was given to the renowned Slovak film director, Dušan Hanák on 25 January 2011. The CEI Award focuses on special merits in the promotion of the dialogue of cultures as well as the preservation of cultural identities.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Vuk Jeremic received Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter in Belgrade on 21 January 2011 in order to discuss the priorities of Serbia’s CEI  Presidency in 2011.

The Central European Initiative is sponsoring the participation of ten scientists/technologists from its non-EU Member States, in the International School on Nuclear Safety, jointly organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. The latter Organisation is part of the CEI Science and Technology Network based in Trieste, Italy.

The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) convened in Sarajevo on December 16, 2010, the 2nd Meeting of the Network of High-level Experts on Energy.