(ANSAmed) - TRIESTE, JUNE 14 - Foreign ministers from Ukraine,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro, the deputy prime
minister of Moldova and the deputy foreign ministers of Albania,
Byelorussia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as the
High Representatives of Austria and Serbia, have confirmed the
key role that the Central European Initiative (CEI) plays in
promoting regional cooperation in Europe and in fostering the
European integration process.
This was declared in the final statement released by today's
Trieste summit. In the statement, a high level of importance was
also given to the project aspect of CEI, with satisfaction
expressed over the results achieved by the cooperation fund to
which member states contribute: over the past ten years the fund
has co-funded about 700 projects with almost 6.6 million euros.
The excellent results achieved by the CEI Fund at the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) were also
highlighted. The ministers underscored the importance of the
programme for know-up exchange funded by Italy and Austria, and
more recently by Poland. About 1.8 million euros have been set
aside to co-fund 66 projects for an overall value of
approximately 5 million euros. Particular importance was given
to the intensification of CEI relations with the EU, pursued
both from political and project-oriented points of view, with
CEI being in the front line in many strategic projects co-funded
with European funds. (ANSAmed).
