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| "Source:www.mfa.gov.ba" |
In his address to the people present, one of whom was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro Milan Roćen as the host, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sven Alkalaj, the representatives of the neighbouring towns and municipalities of the three states, and the international community and donators, Minister Jandroković expressed satisfaction that within the scope of this initiative, the representatives of local communities of the three countries clearly recognised the political, economic and social importance of building the trust and strengthening cross-border co-operation. He stressed that in the period of only two years following the initial meeting, co-operation had recorded significant progress thus creating the basic framework for efficient co-operation in the area of joint natural resources management and activities in the case of natural and other disasters. Apart from this, prospects opened up for further defining of the forms and making more concrete the fields of co-operation, with a view to developing the narrower and the wider region. Finally, by expressing and confirming political support at ministerial level, the local communities were given the necessary initial support to continue with the implementation of the joint projects.
Minister Jandroković noted that for Croatia regional co-operation represented an important factor for improving good neighbourly relations in the region. Frameworks for co-operation are available within the existing regional initiatives with active participation of the three states, in particular within the South East European Co-operation Process and the Regional Co-operation Council, as well as within the framework of stronger connection in jointly using European Union funds available to the candidate countries and potential candidates within the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). Apart from this, he pointed out that an important component of regional development in Croatia was cross-border co-operation, especially having in mind that 18 Croatian counties have borders with the neighbouring states. Minister Jandroković said that the Croatian Government would continue fostering regional integration in the future, and that it was willing to provide all professional and technical assistance which could help its neighbours to fulfil the conditions in every phase on the path to membership of the European Union.
Participants in the meeting were informed about the activities of the Commission for Cross-Border Cooperation in the case of natural and other disasters and projects in the area of natural resources management, and Commission projects were presented to the international community and donators. At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the local governments of the three neighbouring states signed a Joint Statement on Co-operation in the Implementation of Cross-Border Projects falling within the Commission’s scope of competence. The Statement pertains, but is not limited to, the following areas of co-operation covered by the local governments signatories, which are defined as potential areas of the Commission’s operation: natural resources management (exploitation and protection of water resources, supervision and protection of the sea, ecology and protection of the physical and social environment, energy and waste management), cross-border intervention in emergencies (fire protection and other natural disasters and ecological incidents), enhancing economic co-operation (regional tourism development, reconstruction of other forms of economic co-operation, and establishing passenger transport lines between towns and municipalities signatories), and mine clearance.