News

Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, CEI Secretary General, and Ms. Silvia Acerbi, Vice President of INFORMEST signed a Framework Partnership Agreement between CEI and INFORMEST at the CEI Headquarters in Trieste. Ms Federica Seganti, in charge of International Affairs for the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Governemnt, as well as Hon. Roberto Antonione, President of the Italian Delegation to the CEI Parliamentary Assembly, were also present at the Signing Ceremony.

In September, the Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF), in cooperation with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Ministry of Finance of Moldova organised a student award ceremony in the framework of the assignment Capacity Building in Public Accounting (CBIPA) in Chisinau, Moldova.

“EBRD financing of €100 million will support further modernisation of rail infrastructure in Serbia”. This was announced on Serbia’s National Rail Day on 15 September.

On 4 October 2010 Ambassador Brigitte Öppinger-Walchshofer, Managing Director of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), and Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, CEI Secretary General signed, at the CEI Headquarters in Trieste, the Agreement between ADA and CEI for the period 2011-2013.Austria joined the CEI Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) in 2008, which since its inception in 2004, had been financed through the Italy-financed CEI Trust Fund at the EBRD alone.

Co-financed by the Italian contribution to the CEI Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) through the CEI Trust Fund at the EBRD, the project aims to provide significant support to enhancing women’s entrepreneurship in Croatia.

CEI representatives participated in a meeting on financing and implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), organised by the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration of Serbia, Mr. Bozidar Djelic, in cooperation with the European Commission in Belgrade on 27 September 2010.

Upon invitation of the Austrian Ambassador in Rome, Amb. Christian Berlakovits, on 13 September, the Ambassadors of the CEI countries in Rome gathered for a working dinner with State Secretary Sen. Alfredo Mantica, Hon. Roberto Antonione - Head of the Italian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the CEI, Amb. Mario Bova - Director General for European Countries and Amb. Guglielmo Ardizzone - Italian CEI National Coordinator.

This year the CEI “InConcerto” Summer Tour took place in Italy where the CEI-YO performed five concerts in Assisi: (Piazza San Pietro - concert performed by 12 Cellist of the CEI-YO; Rocca Maggiore and Piazza San Ruffino), Caorso and in Busseto, Verdi’s birth town.

On 13 September, the jury of the ninth edition of the “International Design Competition Trieste Contemporanea” met at the CEI HQ. The competition, aimed at promoting the most original expressions of design, was open to designers from the 18 CEI countries as well as from Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Turkey.

The CEI Summer School “Beyond Enlargement. The Wider Europe and the New Neighbourhood”, a feature event first held in 1995, is a two-week course with special focus on democracy, governance, economics and sustainable development.

On 1 September, at the opening of the 25th Vilenica International Literary Festival in Lipica, Slovenia, CEI Secretary General Amb. Pfanzelter presented the CEI Fellowship for Writers in Residence to the Croatian fiction writer and journalist Maja Hrgović.

The Secretary-General of the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria, Ambassador Johannes Kyrle, visited the CEI Headquarters in Trieste on 16 August 2010.

In the context of the CEI Research Fellowship Programme – CERES co-funded by the EC through its Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development – Marie Curie Actions, 7 post-doc scientists were awarded a CERES fellowship.

110 outstanding musicians from 14 CEI countries have been selected by the Artistic Director, M° Igor Coretti-Kuret and will meet for the first time on 24 July in Assisi (Italy) for this year's CEI Youth Orchestra Summer Tour.

On 14 July 2010, the Director of the Venice-based UNESCO – BRESCE (Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe), Mr. Engelbert Ruoss, paid a visit to the CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter.

On 13 July 2010, the Italian Delegation of the CEI Parliamentary Assembly, headed by Hon. Roberto Antonione, paid a visit to the CEI Headquarters in Trieste.

The delegation was composed of Hon. Alessandro Maran, Hon. Aldo Di Biagio and Senator Tamara Blazina.

The Central European Initiative (CEI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) are pleased to announce the winner of the CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism 2010, Mr. Adrian Mogoş from Romania.

For his short film “MAMA”, Géza M. Tóth was awarded with the CEI Prize (3.000 EUR) at the International Short Film and Debut Works Festival “Maremetraggio 2010”.

Financially supported by the CEI, the University of Bologna, Italy (Department of Agriculture) has successfully completed the BIOM-ALBA project aimed at  identifying the economic potential and technical impact of the biomass supply chain in Albania.

In mid June, the Secretariat for CEI Projects (CEI-PS) announced its new commitments through the CEI Trust Fund at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) financed by the Italian Government.