(ANSA) - ZAGREB, DEC 3 - The annual summit of the Central
European Initiative (CEI) is scheduled to begin in Zagreb this
evening and will be attended by heads of government or
high-level political representatives of the 18 member states
that take part in the multilateral forum.
The Croatian CEI presidency put on the agenda the issues of
security, migration, EU enlargement and technological
innovations. The arrival of the delegations in Zagreb and an
informal dinner are scheduled for tonight, whereas the official
summit will be held tomorrow. The meeting is the conclusion of
Croatian Presidency of the CEI, which Italy will take over from
January 1.
The summit will be certainly attended by the heads of government
of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia,
and of course Croatia's prime minister Andrej Plenkovic, who
will give his opening ceremony speech tomorrow.
Along with the CEI Secretary General Amb. Giovanni Caracciolo di
Vietri, who will chair the summit with premier Plenkovic, the
president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti and the European
Commissioner for enlargement Johannes Hahn will also attend the
meeting in Zagreb. Out of the 18 countries that are members of
the CEI, an intergovernmental forum for regional cooperation, 10
are EU members (Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary), 5 are
waiting to join the European Union (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia) and 3 are beneficiaries of
neighborhood policies (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova).
The CEI's core mission is to promote cohesion and assist member
states, particularly those still outside the EU, supporting
their efforts to achieve economic, political and social
consolidation. Right after the political summit, an economic
forum is also scheduled to take place in Zagreb, organized by
the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (Hgk) and dedicated to
innovation and technological competitiveness.
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