Mostar, 17 September 2017 – Member of the European Parliament, Željana Zovko met in Mostar with the Director of the Managing Authority of the IPA Adriatic Programme, Paola Di Salvatore, Vice-President of the FBiH Government and Minister of Finance, Jelka Milićević and representative of the University of Mostar for the EU projects, dr.sc. Mirjana Milićević.
The main topics of the meeting were: the activities for the new IPA programme 2017-2021, analysis of the activities undertaken so far, recommendations for the technical preparation for the forthcoming period, guidelines for launching new projects in the Federation of BiH through cross-border cooperation with the countries involved in the IPA Adriatic Programme.
A special focus was placed on the projects which include cooperation of the University of Mostar with the institutions and economic entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the neighbouring regions with the goal to enhance development throughout the region through cross-border cooperation. Agreement on Cooperation between the University of Mostar and Managing Authority of the IPA Adriatic Programme was announced.
MEP Zovko expressed her support for the continuation of projects and pointed out that in the Amendments to the Opinion of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee on the General EU Budget 2018 it was stressed that the funds for the IPA Instrument should not be reduced, so that the key reforms may be implemented in the Western Balkans countries.
Zovko has already used other opportunities to stress a need for and the importance of not reducing the IPA funds, as for instance, during the exchange of views with Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at the Interparliamentary Conference on Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP/CSDP), held in Tallinn and during the exchange of views with Johannes Hahn, the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations last week in Strasbourg.
IPA Adriatic Programme of Cross-border Cooperation involves eight countries (Italy, Albania, Greece, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia). Its main goal is to strengthen the opportunities of sustainable development in the Adriatic through a coordinated strategy of action between the partners from the acceptable areas of the programme and by applying the initiatives related to four priorities: resources (economic, social and institutional, natural) cultural heritage and risk prevention, network accessibility and technical support.