The XII Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative (AII) countries took place on 28 April 2014 in Tirana. Two topics dominated the conference agenda: 1.Driving Closer towards EU; 2. Promoting Sustainable Economic and Social Prosperity of the Adriatic and Ionian Region, Tourism and Services Based on Local Products. The delegation of the Croatian Parliament was led by the Speaker Josip Leko.
The Conference host, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Ilir Meta, stressed the significance of creating synergy between the EU and the AII countries in creating the new strategy for the region i.e. the EU Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Region (EUSAIR). Mr Meta emphasized that four AII countries were EU member states and four were EU aspirant countries. The Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was strongly supportive of inclusion of Kosovo and Macedonia in the AII. He also underlined the significance of the AII for the peace, stability and economic cooperation in the region.
All AII countries expressed support to the EU integration of the whole region, individually, because for the region there was no alternative to it as the Croatian Speaker Mr Leko put it. Mr Leko offered all EU aspirant countries maximum support of the Republic of Croatia, both political and technical on expert levels, particularly with respect to Croatia"s recent pre-accession experiences.
Conference participants adopted a Joint Declaration, supportive of the EUSAIR initiative and expressing confidence that the EUSAIR once adopted would boost development of the region, through realization of strategic projects for Blue Growth cooperation, environment protection, transport, energy and tourism.
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