Dear Miro,

Dear Corina,

Amb. Pigliapoco,

Dear Colleagues,

 

It’s great to be here and I want to extend my warm congratulations to Croatia for the fruitful Chairmanship of the Adriatic – Ionian Initiative and its constant push for the implementation of EUSAIR.

The Republic of Ragusa thrived and prospered over the centuries thanks to a perpetual balancing act between regional and European powers. Dubrovnik is truly the city that embodies the most the idea of Adriatic and Ionian interdependence.

Today, the EUSAIR involves 4 member states and 4 enlargement countries, building on existing synergies and developing new ones, from the combination of different EU instruments and the pooling of resources.

First and foremost the Adriatic-Ionian basin must become a coherent territory and a true economic region. Territorial cohesion is a necessary step towards the full integration of our economies into the single market.

To ensure territorial cohesion we need first to address the challenge of large socio-economic disparities between the countries of the Adriatic and Ionian region.

In the aftermath of the euro crisis, fiscal consolidation policies has limited our capacities for public investment.

In such a context there is a clear risk that the development gap is deepened instead of being bridged; especially as the current ratio of EU financial assistance for new EU member states and enlargement countries is almost 4 to 1.

From a political stand-point, the Berlin Process has created the conditions for us to actively work towards the improvement of transport and energy connectivity in our region. A real improvement of infrastructure connectivity in the Western Balkans will have very concrete positive impact on other sectors of our economy, such as tourism.

It is clear that the Strategy does not provide new EU monies, but rather a coordinated structure for the use of European Structural and Investment Funds, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, and in particular the Adriatic Ionian Cooperation Programme (ADRION).

Clearly, we need an improved governance capacity to make this work: Albania is actively involved in the Strategic Project ‘Facility Point’ to enhance the institutional capacity of public administrations and key stakeholders in our countries for implementing our joint priorities.

The chairing by Albania and Croatia of the Thematic Steering Group on Sustainable Tourism will reflect the importance we accord to the development of the full potential of this region for innovative, sustainable, responsible quality tourism.

 

Dear Colleagues,

In the current security situation, EU and the Western Balkans don’t have to experience interdependence as a threat but rather as an opportunity.

The Adriatic and Ionian region is located on the route whereby the fallout of instability in the South reaches North Western Europe.

None of the current security risks we all face can be mitigated or prevented without strong and continued joint cooperation and coordinated measures.

The challenges we face make it necessary to be inclusive in the way we seek to tackle them. I would call once more for the inclusions of both Kosovo & Macedonia into EUSAIR.

EUSAIR is an opportunity to translate the current interdependence between WB and EU into an enhanced cooperation, into a win-win process: for the Western Balkans to successfully finalise individual democratic state-building process; for the EU to fully capitalize into its decades-long investment in the region.

Let me conclude by wishing success to Greece, as the next Chairmanship-in-Office of the AII.

Thank you!