The EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region and the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative will be a link towards the process of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic-Radman said on Tuesday.

The Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, launched in 2000, includes Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Italy, San Marino, and all Western Balkan countries except Kosovo, which is blocked by Serbia.

In 2014, the European Union also initiated the Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region to boost regional cooperation and speed up the region’s integration into the EU.

Croatia will chair these two initiatives, which cover 70 million people, from 1 June this year to 31 May 2024. It presented its priorities at a conference in Zagreb on Tuesday.

Grlic-Radman said that the EU’s macroregional strategies are at the heart of the European integration process as unique tools assisting in building the common European space.

The countries covered by the the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative and Strategy cooperate in four areas: Blue Growth (relating to the sea), Connecting the Region (road and gas pipeline construction), Environmental Quality and Sustainable Tourism.

At the proposal of Croatia, which takes over the presidency from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the members will also cooperate on social issues.

Grlic-Radman said that these formats were gaining new momentum and could serve as “a link towards the enlargement process,” adding that the experience of Croatia as an EU member could be of assistance to the Western Balkan countries.

More intensive enlargement process

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic noted that “the tectonic geopolitical changes caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine should convince the EU to support the enlargement process far more intensively.”

He said that these were very important initiatives that were obviously producing results. He cited a “diplomatic offensive” by him, Grlic-Radman and ministers from other member states to convey to the EU that the Western Balkan countries needed concrete assistance at this point because the reforms being implemented by these countries according to EU rules “are impacting our domestic, not so strong economies.”

Konakovic said that at the GLOBSEC conference held in Bratislava earlier this month European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had provided “reason for hope and optimism” by addressing precisely these needs of the Western Balkan countries.

Croatian presidency slogan: “A Blue-Green Strategy for the Future”

The slogan of the Croatian presidency is “A Blue-Green Strategy for the Future”, and among its thematic priorities is “greater resilience through better connectivity”.

The focus will also be on issues such as promoting the potential of geothermal energy, the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley and the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline, sustainable growth and tourism, and social cohesion.

Croatia will encourage all topics that will speed up the EU enlargement process as well as those that will strengthen social cohesion, such as topics concerning young people, social entrepreneurship, the social inclusion of vulnerable groups, and empowering women in the labour market.