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On 12 and 13 September, the AII Permanent Secretariat paid the official annual visit to the incoming AII Chairmanship in Athens.
The Secretary General met – among the others – the Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Mr. Nikos Xydakis and the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Dimitris Mardas.
The annual visit of the Permanent Secretariat to the Presidency was meant to meet the people in charge of the Presidency, both dealing with AII and EUSAIR, to plan the activities of the newly established Chairmanship during the year and to share ideas on how to integrate, as much as possible, the intergovernmental activities within the AII with the EUSAIR.
For the first time in May 2016, Ministers of Foreign Affairs met in a joint "Adriatic and Ionian Council / EUSAIR Ministerial Meeting" making clear that the two exercises work in parallel, one for the other and with the same objective.
The newly established Hellenic Chairmanship will take into account such crucial developments in planning its yearly activities.
After the successful experience of “E-Capital Culture Adriatic Start Up School” last year,
Fondazione Marche, Chamber of Commerce of Ancona, Università Politecnica delle Marche, City
of Ancona and Istao present the Call for ideas for a second edition of the same programme for the creation of Start Up in the cultural field in the Adriatic – Ionian Macro Region.
The competition takes its cue from ECAPITAL – Business Plan Competition, which for 15 years has
promoted the creation of innovative companies in the Marche region (Italy), involving students in
business plan projects.
Ecapital Culture - Adriatic Start Up School is aimed at young people from AII Countries, motivated create a business able to enhance the cultural heritage of the area.
The initiative offers to participants an educational experience aimed at developing the project of
their own business idea in the field of culture, converting it into an enterprise.
The first edition carried out in 2015, involved 25 young participants coming from the AI Macro
Region who developed their business idea through the implementation of their own business plan.
The call for ideas is addressed to 20 young people from the 8 countries of the Adriatic-Ionian
Macro Region (excluding people coming from the Marche region – Italy, who will be object of a
dedicated Call).
The call is open from 15 July to 15 September 2015. All relevant documents and information about admission requirements, participation and project phases are enclosed in the Call for Ideas.
More information are available on the dedicated website http://startupschool.ecapital.it/
The first double hat "Adriatic and Ionian Council/ EUSAIR Ministerial Meeting" took place last 12 May in the city of Dubrovnik.
The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Croatian Republic, Mr. Miro Kovač, and attended by the eight Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative, as well as by the 8 Ministers responsible a for EU funds and by the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Mrs. Corina Creţu.
The Dubrovnik Declaration (enclosed) issued by Ministers focused on renewing the commitment of the eight countries on passing from words to deed in the implementation phase of the EUSAIR as well as on finding new ways of the EUSAIR can support AII countries affected by the refugee and migration crisis.
The meeting was preceded (on the previous day) by the last AII Committee of Senior Officials of the Croatian Chairmanship aimed at fine tuning the Dubrovnik Declaration and at reporting on a years of activities by the Presidency.
It is with deep sorrow and regret that the AII Permanent Secretariat announces the death of Amb. Alessandro Grafini (75). He passed away yesterday in his hometown Venice for a sudden illness.
From 2008 to 2011 he has been the first Secretary General of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative leading the Permanent Secretariat during the challenging period of its establishment in Ancona.
Amb. Grafini enjoyed a successful diplomatic career as he covered the position of Ambassador of the Republic of Italy in Wien, Sofia and Zagreb.
The Secretary General and the staff of the Permanent Secretariat fondly remember Amb. Grafini and the time spent with him.
The Regional Cooperation Meeting, gathering the Secretariats of European Regional Organizations, had its traditional annual session in Budapest at the premises of the Danube Commission.
The President and the Director General of the Danube Commission hosted the meeting that was attended by representatives of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the Baltic Sea States Council, the Central European Initiative, the Regional Cooperation Council, the Union for the Mediterranean and the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative.
The delegates discussed about possible synergies among their organizations and shared their own experience of regional cooperation. Security cooperation (in terms of terrorism threats and refugee crisis) aroused as a new priority to be tackled by all regional organizations and an exchange of information and experiences on this issue was deemed advantageous.