The 19th General Assembly of the Adriatic Ionian Euroregion took place online on 15/12/2023. Guided by President Nikola Dobroslavić, the Assembly renewed commitment to:
- pursue joint work towards a better integration, growth and cohesion of our territories.
- capitalise on the good achievements in highlighting the role of regional and local authorities in the implementation of European policies as well as in stimulating bottom-up approaches, especially in the framework of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Region.
- reinforce cooperation with the many stakeholders and partners at all institutional levels by relaying on European projects and programmes and with a view to empower our territories and citizens, including youth.
- work with and for youth by eatablishing a new Working Group on Youth as part of the bodies of the Association and with the active participation of the Adriatic Ionian Youth Network.
The Assembly had a statutory session mainly focused on the governance of the association and the financial issues. During this session the Activity Report 2022-2023, the Report on the activities and the organisation of the General Secretariat for 2023 were presented and approved by the Assembly. The Secretariat had also an overview on the current cooperation projects managed by the associations (AI-NURECC Plus, Community4Tourism, Dialogue4Innovation and Gear Up). The bodies of the association such as President, Vice-Presidents, Executive Committee boards, and Secretary General were re-confirmed for the coming years.
The assembly was opened by a thematic session on macroregional cooperation and policies withh the participation of:
- Mr. Mislav KOVAČ, Head of the Sector of the Directorate for European Territorial Cooperation, Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia, in representation of the EUSAIR Croatian Presidency. Mr. KOVAČ had an overview on the Presidency’s programme for the months to come.
- Ms. Lisa Esposito (AIE Secretariat) presented the results of the AI-NURECC PLUS project and particularly of the youth engagement actions that the Secretariat carried out in collaboration with the project Consortium and with the support of many members of the Association.
- Mr Milan Stojanović, as representative of the Adriatic Ionian Youth Network, explained the steps that united 19 youth organisations in ten EUSAIR countries under one single cross-border network while engaging in several youth-led initiatives, research and networking opportunities.
- The Secretary General, Francesco Cocco, presented the initiative “Becoming friend of the Mediterranean Macro region” as an opportunity for our Association to create bridges with institutions and key actors of the Mediterranean area and support the creation of a macro-regional strategy for the Mediterranean.
The assembly was a good occasion to meet the various members of the Association and together celebrate the cooperation and solidarity that unites them since 2006.