News
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.
The Central European Initiative participated in the sixth edition of the Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility and Transport (SWOMM) dedicated to Transport & Environment in Mountain Areas on 14 December 2010 at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy.
The CEI Committee of National Coordinators (CNC) met in Podgorica on 7 December 2010.
In 2010, the Italian Government, through the CEI Trust Fund at the EBRD, has committed €1,075,500 towards seven Technical Cooperation (TC) assignments. The distribution of the projects follows the CEI priorities: geographically, three projects have regional outreach, while the others specifically target Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. The project distribution by sectors shows an emphasis on infrastructure (two projects in transport and two projects in energy) and SMEs and general development (one and two projects, respectively).
Parliamentary delegations of CEI Member States gathered in Budva on 27 November for the annual session of the CEI Parliamentary Assembly, organised in the framework of the Montenegrin CEI Presidency.
On 9 December, the SEETAC Project (South East European Transport Axis Cooperation), co-financed by the European Commission, through the Trans-National Cooperation Programme South East Europe, was successfully presented at the European Parliament in Brussels during an event co-organised by the Central European Initiative and hosted by Hon. Antonio Cancian (Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament).
The Central European Initiative was one of the partners of the IV South East Europe Media Forum, held in Budapest on 2-3 December and organised by the WAZ Media Group (Germany's third largest newspaper and magazine publisher), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO).
The 6th Annual Ministerial Meeting on the Development of the South East Europe Core Regional Transport Network was held in Sarajevo on 1 December 2010 to discuss mainly on "Common Problems and Shared Solutions".
On 30 November, the CEI participated in the Dialogue Forum for Innovation in ICT for the Western Balkan Countries organised in Belgrade, in the context of the WINS ICT Project (Western Balkan Countries Inco-Net Support in the field of ICT).