Latest news

6 May 2026

Youth4Sea: Ideas for the Future of Italy-Croatia Cooperation, 25 May 2026 - Ancona, Italy

Registrations are now open for the Interreg Italy–Croatia Annual Event 2026, titled “Youth4Sea – Ideas for the Future of Italy–Croatia Cooperation” , which...
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6 May 2026

Ancona Honours Ambassador Fabio Pigliapoco, Key Figure in Adriatic-Ionian Cooperation

On 4 May 2026, the city of Ancona has posthumously awarded a civic honour to Ambassador Fabio Pigliapoco , in recognition of his outstanding diplomatic career...
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30 April 2026

EUSAIR Forum 2026 - Skopje, 18–20 May: Registrations Now Open

Registrations are now open for the 11 th Forum of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR), which will take place in Skopje, North...
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26 April 2026

XX Conference of Presidents/Speakers of Parliaments of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative - Skopje, 23–24 April 2026

The XX Conference of Presidents and Speakers of Parliaments of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative took place in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, on 23-24...
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20 April 2026

15th Congress on Female Entrepreneurship in the Adriatic-Ionian Area - 15 Aprile 2026, Mostar

On 15 April 2026, the Secretary General of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta, took part in the 15th Congress on Female...
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19 March 2026

Ancona Named Italian Capital of Culture 2028

The city of Ancona has been officially designated Italian Capital of Culture 2028 , a prestigious national title awarded annually by the Italian Ministry of...
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18 March 2026

Secretary General Castellaneta attends the 30th Anniversary of the CEI Executive Secretariat

The Secretary General of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta, attended the high-level conference held in Trieste on the occasion...
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9 March 2026

AII Committee of Senior Officials meets in Ohrid - 4 March 2026

On 4 March 2026, the meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative (AII) took place in Ohrid, under the Chairmanship of...
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19 February 2026

AII SG at Conference on “Ports at the core of a Adriatic-Ionian Region: cooperation and competitiveness towards the sustainable transition" - 27 February, Ancona

On 27 February 2026, Ambassador Castellaneta, Secretary General of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, took part in the event “Ports at the core of an...
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Chairmanship

NORTH MACEDONIA
JUNE 2025
MAY 2026

WELCOME BY THE
SECRETARY GENERAL

Amb. Giovanni Castellaneta is the Secretary General of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative, he was appointed to such position by the AII Ministers of Foreign Affairs gathered in the Adriatic and Ionian Council in Ioannina (11 May 2017) under the Hellenic Chairmanship.
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News from Interreg

Activities

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND CULTURE

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND CULTURE

BLUE GROWTH / MARITIME COOPERATION

BLUE GROWTH / MARITIME COOPERATION

TRANSPORTS AND ENERGY CONNECTIONS

TRANSPORTS AND ENERGY CONNECTIONS

PARLIAMENTARY DIMENSION

PARLIAMENTARY DIMENSION

ENVIRONMENTAL AND CIVIL PROTECTION

ENVIRONMENTAL AND CIVIL PROTECTION

INTER-UNIVERSITY COOPERATION

INTER-UNIVERSITY COOPERATION

Articles

The Adriatic IoNIan GaMes For Social InclUSion, a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, will be held in Ancona from the 27th to the 29th of September.

The event is promoted and organized by the City of Ancona with the support of Marche Region, Forum of Adriatic and Ionian Cities, the School Authority Office for the Marche Region – M.I.U.R., the CONI, Forum AIC, the Italian Navy, the Permanent Secretariat of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, the AICCRE (Italian Association of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions – CEMR), the CIP (Italian Paralympic Commitee), EURES – European Employment Services, Europe Direct – Marche Region, UNICAM, UNIURB, TECLA, AVIS, USS, CSV Marche, IgersItalia, Commission for equal opportunities – Marche Region, SAPE and Network Città Sane.

More than 1000 athletes (15-16 years old) coming from sixteen countries of the Adriatic and Ionian, Baltic and Danube Region will compete in 10 different sporting disciplines (Albania, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia).

The main objective of A.NI.M.US is to strengthen the role played by sport in social inclusion and cohesion within the Adriatic Ionian Region thanks to the empowerment of cities and volunteer organisations. The network of cities and organisations involved will contribute to improve the collaboration, capacity building and spreading of best practices on inclusive sport and to strengthen social and cultural cohesion.

Within the event an Info-Kiosk will be organized to raise awareness on the relevance of the EUSAIR – EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region and the key role of its main stakeholders in fostering the sound implementation of its Action Plan.

 

Friday 27 September

16.00 - 19.30

Saturday 28 September

10.00 – 13.00 / 15.00 - 19.30

Sunday 29 September

10.00 – 13.00 / 15.00 – 19.30

 

At the Info-Kiosk representatives of the following associations will be available in order to inform about the project and their work:

AII-PS - Adriatic and Ionian Initiative Permanent Secretariat

FAIC - Forum of Adriatic and Ionian Cities

Forum AIC - Forum of Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce

UniAdrion - Association of Universities of the Adriatic-Ionian Area

CPMR - Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions

AIE - Adriatic Ionian Euroregion

Three meetings to learn - and better understand - the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion, to offer ideas and food for thought on that area that lies between Italy and the Balkans. The meetings, named "Dialogues between the two shores", organized in collaboration with the Permanent Secretariat of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative, will be held at 6.00 pm at the AII headquarter in Ancona and at the Port Authority premises, coordinated by the journalist Matteo Tacconi, and will see the participation of many international guests.

 

1st Meeting - August 29th h.18.00 (Central Adriatic Ports Authority seat)

“Ports and transports”

Special guests

Zeno D’Agostino, President of Port System Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea, President of Assoporti, the Italian Association of Ports, and Vice President of European Sea Port

Rodolfo Giampieri, President of the Central Adriatic Ports Authority

 

2nd Meeting – August 30th h. 18 (AII Permanent Secretariat Seat)

“Sustainability and tourism in the Adriatic”

Special guests

Fabio Vallarola – Director of Parco del Cerrano Marine Protected Area and Coordinator of AdriaPan

Marco Affronte – former MEP

Mara Jurisic - President of Pokret Otoka (Croatia)

 

3rd Meeting - August 31st h.18.00 (AII Permanent Secretariat Seat)

"Adriatic city and identity"

Special guests

Nicola Pedrazzi - Journalist of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso

Gino Sabatini - President of the Forum of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce

Egidio Ivetic - Professor of modern history, University of Padua

The second edition of the Summer school on “Migration and mobility in the Balkans”, organized by UniAdrion and the Marche Polytechnic University is going to take place in Ancona (Italy) form the 9th to the 13th of September 2019.

The school intends to provide an intensive training course for Master and PhD students, young researchers and officers who are interested in the current economic and socio-demographic situation of the Balkans.         
The main focus of the lectures will be on migration and mobility dynamics. Lecturers will discuss the past and current trends in such phenomena, their socio-economic determinants and effects with a specific reference to the Balkan region. An interdisciplinary approach will be adopted by covering a wide range of disciplines: economics, sociology, geography, demography, political science and international relations.

The school is organized as part of the UniAdrion activities and will encourage an integrated dialogue among young scholars coming from Universities of the Adriatic - Ionian region. The exchange will benefit also from the presence of a distinguished Faculty made up of experts in migration research and/or in the economic and social analysis of the Balkan region.

This year edition will host lecturers of key relevance in the European academic scenario, such as Russel King, from Sussex University, Milica Uvalic, from the University of Perugia, Giulia Bettin, from Marche Polytechnic University, Stefano Bianchini, from the University of Bologna, Eralba Cela, from the University of Milan and INRCA, and others.

The Summer school fee, as well as meals and accommodation, will be covered by Marche Polytechnic University, whereas travel expenses to and from Ancona will be on participants. 

Please find attached below the official call and the application form. The deadline for submission is July 10, 2019.

All details and further information are available at: .

DOWNLOAD

Call for application - UniAdrion Summer School Second Edition

Application Form

UniAdrion Summer School 2019 - flyer

The Adriatic Mediterranean Festival - the cultural festival gathering in Ancona a number of musicians, writers and artists coming from all over the Adriatic-Ionian Region and the Mediterranean – will take place from Wednesday 28 August to Saturday 31 August in Ancona.

The Adriatic Mediterranean Prize, which is awarded every year to the personalities who commit themselves to culture and rights in the Mediterranean and the Balkans, in 2019, is attributed to the Italian musician and composer Enzo Avitabile. The award aims to be a recognition of the value of culture and art as an element of peace, knowledge and dialogue between cultures with a particular attention to social issues.

The Award ceremony will be held at the seat of the Permanent Secretariat of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative on Wednesday 28th of August (h. 6.30 p.m.).

For more information about the festival, visit the official website http://www.adriaticomediterraneo.eu

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CEI Member States held their annual meeting in Trieste (Italy) on June 11th-12th 2019 under the Italian CEI Presidency. The gathering - entitled Central European Initiative at thirty and towards the future: common vision, shared values, European standards, strong regional cooperation - was chaired by H.E. Enzo Moavero Milanesi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

Security, fight against corruption, sustainable development, stronger infrastructure and energy sector connections were the topics discussed during the meeting.

AII Secretary General, Ambassador Castellaneta, stressed that the AII as well as the “EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region”, clearly share the same objectives as the Central European Initiative, namely to facilitate the integration process and to promote economic growth and prosperity in the region through concrete cooperation activities. “The AII, which will turn 20 years old next year, will continue to foster cooperation and synergies among our Participating Countries in topics which are the future of the Adriatic and Ionian Region, such as Blue Growth, Infrastructures and Connections, Sustainable Environment and Culture, but also anti-corruption, youth policies, and migration and the protection of unaccompanied children” said Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta. (full speech here).

The Meeting witnessed the adoption of the Trieste Declaration, including specific areas for further cooperation. In particular, two salient initiatives upon which to follow up were agreed upon, i.e. a possible establishment of a CEI Local Dimension; and development of a “CEI Agenda for the Youth”. Furthermore, the Trieste Declaration welcomes the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the CEI and the AII.

  1. Amb. Pigliapoco as keynote speaker at the CEI Parliamentary Committee in Trieste – 27-28 May
  2. ADRIATIC AND IONIAN COUNCIL / EUSAIR MINISTERIAL MEETING - MAY 8, BUDVA
  3. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN AII AND CEI – BUDVA, MAY 8
  4. ADRIATIC SEA FORUM - ANCONA, 30-31 MAY 2019