Place:Central European Initiative

**Central European Initiative**
Central European Initiative
	Logo
	Member states
Headquarters	Trieste, Italy
Type	Intergovernmental organization
Membership	17 member states
Leaders
• Secretary general	Roberto Antonione
Establishment
• Founded	1989
	Website; http://www.cei.int/

Short description: European forum of regional cooperation

The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, counting 18 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989. The body was developed on the basis of earlier experiences with The Alps-Adriatic Working Group.^[1] The CEI headquarters have been in Trieste, Italy, since 1996.

History

The Central European Initiative or CEI, is the largest and oldest forum of regional cooperation in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe. It now counts 17 member states, many of whom are not even part of Central Europe: Albania, Belarus , Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland , Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine . The origin of the Central European Initiative lies in the creation of the Quadragonale in Budapest on 11 November 1989 whose founding members were Italy, Austria, Hungary and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

The Initiative aimed at overcoming the division in blocks by re-establishing cooperation links, among countries of different political orientations and economic structures.

At the first Summit in Venice in 1990, Czechoslovakia was admitted and the Initiative was renamed Pentagonale. In 1991, with the admission of Poland it became the Hexagonale.

The organisation was renamed Central European Initiative (CEI) in 1992. On the same occasion, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia were admitted as member states.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia were admitted to the CEI in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. In 1996 Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine joined the CEI as full-fledged members.

The current membership derives from the adhesion of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (afterwards State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and later on Serbia) in 2000 and of Montenegro in 2006.

Structures

The CEI has a three-pillar system: It cooperates in a governmental dimension, a parliamentary dimension and a business dimension.

It promotes connectivity and diversity through 6 main areas: Good governance, economic growth, media freedom, environmental protection, intercultural cooperation and scientific cooperation/ education & training.

The CEI implements is activities through its cooperative activities, EU-projects, Know-how exchange programme and technical cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and development(EBRD).

Secretary general

Since 2019, Roberto Antonione (Italy) has been secretary general.

CEI Presidencies

Year	Country
1989	Hungary
1990	Italy
1991	SFR Yugoslavia
1992	Austria
1993	Hungary
1994	Italy
1995	Poland
1996	Austria
1997	Bosnia and Herzegovina
1998	Croatia
1999	Czech Republic
2000	Hungary
2001	Italy
2002	Macedonia
2003	Poland
2004	Slovenia
2005	Slovakia
2006	Albania
2007	Bulgaria
2008	Moldova
2009	Romania
2010	Montenegro
2011	Serbia
2012	Ukraine
2013	Hungary
2014	Austria
2015	Macedonia
2016	Bosnia and Herzegovina
2017	Belarus
2018	Croatia
2019	Italy
2020	Montenegro
2021	Montenegro (due to covid related cancellation of most of the 2020 program)