The results of the referendum in Croatia, with a decisive majority of voters in favour of the accession to the European Union, have been warmly welcomed by the Central European Initiative whose mission is regional cooperation for European integration.
CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, stated that “Croatia’s success is also a success of the Central European Initiative which has invested funds and projects to facilitate European integration”.
Last June, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the CEI Member States, during their meeting in Trieste had the chance to express warm congratulations to Croatia for the successful termination of the accession negotiations.
CEI activities involving Croatia are particularly intense, especially in the economic sector. In the framework of the CEI Fund at the EBRD - European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, financed by Italy, the CEI has supported, since 1998, 14 technical assistance projects in Croatia for a value of almost 2 million EUR (mainly in support of SMEs). Within the Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP), financed by Italy and Austria, more than 500.000 Euro for 19 projects have been committed since 2004. From the Cooperation Fund, 37 activities (mainly conferences, seminars, workshops) have been co-financed since 2002 with about 335,000 EUR.
