The XVII Adriatic Ionian Council was held in Brussels last May 13. The high level meeting marked the end of a successful Albanian Chairmanship of the AII and handed it over to Bosnia and Herzegovina which will start acting from the first o June.

In the same occasion the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the eight AII governments praised amb. Pigliapoco for the work done in the past three years at the head of the AII-Permanent Secretariat and renew his mandate for further three years .

The Declaration of the XVII Adriatic Ionian Council is enclosed. 

The XII Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the AII took place in Tirana from 27th to 28th of April under the Chairmanship of the Speaker of the Parliament of Albania , H.E. Ilir Meta .

After the opening Statement by President Meta , the Prime Minister of Albania , H.E. Edi Rama , took the floor for a welcoming address.

Both Sessions " Driving closer towards E U " and "Promoting sustainable Economic and Social prosperity of the AII Region" could profit from contributions by all participants :

H.E. Milorad Zivkovic, Speaker ( BiH)

H.E. Josip Leko , Speaker ( Croatia )

H.E. Vangelis Vasileios , Speaker ( Greece )

H.E. Suljo Mustafic , Vice Speaker ( Montenegro )

H.E. Mrs. Polanca Komar , Vice Speaker ( Slovenia )

Sen. Aldo Di Biagio ( Italy ) , representing the Speaker of the Italian Senate

The Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia , Ms. Maja Gojkovic , recently appointed and engaged in institutional activities , sent a Message to colleagues , which was read by President Meta.

At the end of the Conference a " Joint Statement " was adopted deciding , inter alia, " to set up ad hoc Parliamentary Representations to follow the work of the AII and the progress of EUSAIR in close contact with the Permanent Secretariat " and calling upon the future Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina " to convene a meeting of the ad hoc Parliamentary Representatives to discuss on future concrete steps of the working agenda".

The project on "Promotion of ecoremediation in national parks and camps" co-financed under the Regional Cooperation Programme 2012 of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative has been successfully concluded.

The project, realized with the partnership of associations from Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro aimed at changing the culture of decision-makers on the protection on environment in national parks. The project was realized mainly through field missions, case studies and trainings aimed at sharing information about how to reduce the impact on natural resources through ecological and low cost solutions and using it also as a tool to foster tourism in the region.

The Project was led by CHARGO Net Poslovni Projecti from Slovenia with the participation of MEDIX doo (MNE) and MEDIA Contact (CRO).

The Brochure is enclosed (Croatian Language).

AII Secretary General  attended  the eleventh Coordination Meeting of Regional Organization at the BSEC Headquarters of Istanbul on 21st of March upon invitation by the BSEC Secretary General, Amb. Victor Tvircun.

The meeting, chaired by the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Chairman, Ambassador Branimir Petrov Redev (Bulgaria) was an occasion to exchange information on respective priorities and calendars and therefore explore opportunities of cooperation.  The participants also shared their experiences on respective practices on projects and fundraising.

Furthermore, the occasion was seized by the Secretary General for a bilateral side-meeting with the representative of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in order to learn from the experience of this organization regarding the EU Strategy for the Baltic Region which could be crucial for the future governance of the EUSAIR.

Next Coordination meeting will be hosted by the Regional Cooperation Council in Sarajevo in 2015. 

The project on "Sustainable Child and Youth Tourism in function of Rural Development of Region" co-financed under the Regional Cooperation Programme 2012 of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative has been successfully concluded.

The project, including partners from Serbia, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, aimed at improving cooperation through exchange of knowhow and practices among the partners and service providers in the field of Child and Youth Tourism.

Promoting child and youth tourism means decrease seasonality as well as creating a sense of community among young people and increasing their knowledge and experience about the region in which they live.

The project was led by the National Tourism Organization of Serbia in partnership with HF Eko Etno Groupa (CRO), Kompas Novo mesto (SLO), GAL Bassa Padovana (ITA) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.

The Brochure released is enclosed.