(ANSA) - UDINE, 29 APR - The sixth annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR) will take place on 11 and 12 May in Izola, Slovenia. EUSAIR, which has reshaped its governance, is now committed to the embedding process, i.e., the search for funds from the EU budget and pre-accession funding for the Balkans to support the shared activities included in its four pillars. The four assets are maritime activities, connectivity (transport and energy), environment, and sustainable tourism. One of the coming forum focuses will be setting up a common strategy in all these sectors. There will also be a focus on transport, the environment, and climate change.

Among the keynote speakers at the Forum will be the Slovenian climatologist Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN intergovernmental council on the climate crisis. She was part of the IPCC group that, in 2007, together with Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to build up and disseminate better knowledge about human-made climate change.

The EUSAIR strategy, launched by the EU Commission in 2014, includes many EU member states as participating countries, such as Italy, Greece, Slovenia, and Croatia, and states on their way to membership, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Albania. (ANSA).