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The Regional Unit of Thesprotia’s Council Chamber hosted on 4-5 June, 2014 in Igoumenitsa, Greece, the 3rd project meeting and steering committee of the project ACROSSEE - Accessibility improved at border CROSsings for the integration of South East Europe. The steering committee of the project, the second-last preceding the project’s final conference, which will take place in Vienna at the end of the year, had the major intent of sustaining the set of project goals.

On 4 June 2014, Partners of the EDITS Project responsible for the implementation of the main activities met in Brno, Czech Republic to discuss the state of the art of the activity 6 months prior to its conclusion.

The CEI took part in the 4th WIDER Steering Committee Meeting which took place in Civitanova Marche (Italy) on 4 and 5 June 2014. Organised by the project lead partner, SVIM Marche from Italy, the meeting gathered all project partners as well as a number of Local Innovation Community (LIC) experts.
 
Around 100 representatives from more than 60 projects participated in the Joint Communication Training coorganised by the South East Europe (SEE) and Mediterranean Transnational Programmes (MED) on 2-3 June in Bled (Slovenia). The CEI was represented by two staff members, from the ACROSSEE (SEE) and WIDER (MED) projects respectively.

Ten tutors and 27 students received their Internal Auditor Certificates obtained in the framework of the project “Training of Internal Auditors in Public Sector in Montenegro” (TIAPS) at the closing ceremony in Podgorica, Montenegro on 6 June 2014.
 
The CEI and the RCC signed a new two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) yesterday, 3 June 2014, in Vienna. The Ceremony took place on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CEI Member States, before the Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, and all the invited guests.
 
Eleven Ministers for Foreign Affairs (Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia), six Deputy Ministers (Belarus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Ukraine), as well as the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the OSCE attended the annual meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of CEI Member States, held in Vienna on 3 June 2014.

“Its unique working methodology, combining multilateral diplomacy and project management, has made the CEI a champion of regional cooperation, fully committed to providing significant, project-oriented contributions to strengthen the political, economic and social systems of its member countries” said CEI Secretary General Giovanni Caracciolo di Vietri in his welcome speech in Vienna, at the CEI Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, held under the CEI Austrian Presidency.
 
A meeting of the CEI Committee of National Coordinators (CNC) was held today in Vienna. The agenda focused on the preparations of the Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs taking place tomorrow, 3 June, back to back with the Conference on the Western Balkans. The National Coordinators, in particular, finalised the drafting of the Communiqué, which will be discussed and adopted tomorrow by the Ministers.

Nine scientific contributions were presented during the second workshop of the project “ENvironmental Impact assessment of the Kozuf metalloGenic district in southern MAcedonia in relation to groundwater resources, surface waters, soils and socio-economic consequences  (ENIGMA)”, successfully held in Prague on 16 May 2014.

The President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (FVG), Debora Serracchiani and the Secretary General of the Central European Initiative (CEI), Giovanni Caracciolo di Vietri signed an agreement on 26 May 2014, for strengthening cooperation between the two parties and further developing relations between the FVG and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Two international events will be taking place in Vienna on 2-3 June 2014: the Conference on the Western Balkans in the 1914-2014 context and the Meeting of the CEI Ministers for Foreign Affairs. Questions regarding the EU enlargement; the role of the EU as a peace project; the economic situation in the Western Balkans, as well as cooperation within the framework of the Central European Initiative (CEI) - this year celebrating its 25th anniversary - are on top of the Agenda of these two gatherings.
 
On 15 May 2014, the CEI participated in the 3rd Steering Committee Meeting of the “Defining Social responsibility Interventions for Grounded Networking in Machine Tools Sector (DESIGN-MTS)” project, co-financed by the EU Competitiveness and Innovation Programme.

More than 40 representatives from financial departments in VinnitsaUkraine, have recently attended a training course organised by the Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation Foundation (PAUCI), in partnership with the Vinnitsa Regional Council. Local officials had the chance to acquire knowledge and practical skills in developing indicators of budget programme implementation.
The Austrian CEI Presidency is organising this year’s Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the CEI Member States on 3 June in Vienna, back to back with a Western Balkans Conference in the 1914-2014 context commemorating the anniversary of the outbreak of World War I. The Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, will open the gathering entitled “New Challenges for the CEI”.
 
The Austrian CEI Presidency as well as the CEI Secretariat express their deep sympathy and heart-felt solidarity to the communities and Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, affected by recent devastating floods and extraordinary damage.
 
The CEI is ready to take concrete actions to assist its three member countries in their recovery by exploiting its instruments and funds as well as its experience in managing EU funded projects. The modalities will be examined with the three affected countries directly.
 
In the context of the 25th Anniversary of the CEI, the Italian Cultural Institute of Oslo hosted a seminar on 12 May 2014, entitled "Regional Co-operation, Economic Growth and Political Stability: the Central European Initiative and Euro-Arctic/Northern Fora in comparison". The panel of expert speakers included the Italian Ambassador to Oslo, Giorgio Novello and his colleagues from Sweden, Sverre Stub; Austria, Thomas Wunderbaldinger and Serbia, Milan Simurdic. Counsellor Tommaso Andria and former Hungarian Foreign Minister, Geza Jeszenszky were also present.
For over two decades the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has been working with the international donor community to accelerate transition towards market-oriented economies. Democratic foundations, private sector development, a competitive and transparent business environment and sustainable growth are just a few of the elements underpinning economic and social prosperity.
 
CEI Secretary General Amb. Giovanni Caracciolo di Vietri took part in the XVII Meeting of the Adriatic and Ionian Council, held in Brussels on 13 May 2014. Under the auspices of the Chairmanship-in-Office of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (AII), represented by H.E. Ditmir Bushati, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, delegations from all AII Member States, the European Commission (DG for Enlargement, DG for Regional and Urban Policy, DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and four Regional Organisations (CEI, CBSS, BSEC, RCC) attended the gathering.
 
The Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) together with the Central European Initiative (CEI) and other partnering institutions including the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, the Abdus Salam International Centre For Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the University of Trieste, and the University of Udine, is organising a one‐week Summer School for researchers, scientists and managers from South East Europe.

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