Deputy Minister Benedetto Della Vedova spoke today at the virtual meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Central European Initiative (CEI), an intergovernmental forum for regional cooperation of Central and South-East European countries. The topic of the meeting, led by the Montenegrin Presidency, was the region’s future after the pandemic focusing on economic and social recovery, the possible enlargement for the Western Balkans and the strengthening of relations with the European Union for the countries in the eastern neighbourhood.
“During the last year, CEI has demonstrated that regional cooperation is crucial to addressing the new economic and socio-sanitary challenges, and Italy is firmly dedicated to contributing to this cooperation,” said Della Vedova. In this regard, the Deputy Minister recalled the Italian investments for the region’s growth, mainly through the CEI Fund at the EBRD. Within this context, in 2021, special attention will be paid to projects favouring the new generations. “We will continue to support the EU’s enlargement to the Western Balkans,” added Della Vedova, “and for this reason, we have allocated additional funds to the Know-How Exchange Programme, intended for technical assistance and the transfer of best practices to the non-EU CEI countries, in line with the Economic and Investment Plan for the Balkans desired by the European Commission.