The Deputy Minister Benedetto Della Vedova participated today, by videoconference, in the ministerial meeting of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative (AII) and the EU Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Region (EUSAIR).
The EUSAIR Strategy, launched in 2014 under the Italian Presidency of the EU Council and on the political impulse of Italy, aims to enhance the effectiveness of EU and national projects for the development of the Adriatic-Ionian Region and, to this end, operates in close synergy with the platform for political dialogue offered by the AII. Besides the EU Commission, nine countries are parties to the Strategy: four EU Member States (Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Croatia) and five non-EU Countries (Albania, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro).
In his speech, the Deputy Minister emphasised the strategic importance of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative launched in 2000, on the initiative of Italy, and the role of the Strategy as a forum for harmonising territorial development policies in the Adriatic-Ionian Region and also as an operational lever to support the process of integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union.
At the end of the meeting, the participating States adopted the Final Declaration of Izola – from where the Slovenian Presidency was attending – which reaffirms the strategic vision on the future of the entire Region, with a view to its full integration into the European Union. Della Vedova recalled that the Declaration is fully consistent, also in financial terms, with the objectives pursued by the Strategy with respect to the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans launched by the European Commission last autumn, as well as with regional initiatives such as the “Green Agenda” and the “Regional Common Market”, all of which are oriented towards the pursuit of sustainable and inclusive development, which focuses on green and digital transition.