Democratisation and decentralisation are imperative for the development and intercultural and interreligious cooperation is very important for the stability of this region, Giovanni Di Stasi, president of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, said opening the conference. He added that interregional dialogue would contribute to the stability of the region.
This integration helps countries ravaged by war to connect with the European Union, which is the essence of pluralist democracy, said Di Stasi. He added the Adriatic Euroregion was the first project launched by the Congress and that it would soon be followed by a project covering the Black and Baltic Seas.
Access to European processes cannot be achieved without local and regional democracy, said CoE Secretary-General Terry Davis. He recalled the 25th anniversary of the European Convention on Transfrontier Cooperation, calling on Greece and Serbia-Montenegro to sign it and Bosnia-Herzegovina to ratify it.
The president of the Italian region of Veneto, Giancarlo Galan, said the Adriatic Euroregion was being launched because of the use and protection of common natural resources. He said the Adriatic represented the common cultural and historical heritage of the six countries in question.
The Adriatic Euroregion will unite seven Italian regions, three Slovene maritime municipalities, seven Croatian counties, Bosnia's Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Montenegro, and seven Albanian provinces. The new Euroregion will have a total 22 million inhabitants.