Croatia launched its programme of EUSAIR and AII presidency

On June 1, Croatia took over the presidency of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region EUSAIR and the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative AII from Bosnia and Herzegovina and officially presented its programme for the one-year presidency at the inaugural conference held in Zagreb on June 20, 2023.

The conference was opened by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman, Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac and Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Šime Erlić.

The Croatian presidency coincides with the tenth anniversary of Croatia’s entry into the EU and within its presidency, as political priorities Croatia has set the transformation and contribution of the Strategy and the Initiative to the EU enlargement process, the completion of the Strategy revision process, as well as stronger institutional cooperation within the framework of the four EU Macroregional Strategies. The Croatian presidency also could bring the introduction of the fifth, social pillar into the Strategy.

“The essence of cooperation within European macro-regions is the building of trust and joint action between the participating states, which eases the focus on particular goals in favour of some greater, universal gain“

pointed out at the opening the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman and thanked the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konaković for good cooperation during the one-year Bosnia and Herzegovina presidency.

The key to the sustainable tourism development is in the implementation of selected strategic topics and projects

The Croatian Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds initiated, in the process of revising the Strategy an expansion of the EUSAIR thematic pillars by introducing the fifth one. The new, separate pillar would unite social topics and lead towards a more socially sensitive and conscious strategy. This Croatian initiative has received the unanimous and unreserved support of all member countries and was discussed at the EUSAIR Social Dimension panel within the conference.

Sławomir Tokarski, director of the Directorate for European Territorial Cooperation, Macroregions, Interreg and European Commission program implementation, supported the launch of the Croatian presidency programme and participated in the working part of the conference.

If you missed the Kick-off conference of the Croatian EUSAIR Presidency or the Conference on Sustainable Nautical Tourism you can have a look at them here!