Foreign ministers of the 18 member states of the Central European Initiatives are meeting today in Sofia’s Boyana residence within Bulgaria’s presidency of the organization.

The key aspects of regional cooperation, the European perspective of the countries from the region, EU’s expansion and new opportunities for Black Sea cooperation will be the main topics in the agenda of the meeting. Ministers are also expected to give an assessment of the current state of CEI, and to discuss its problems and future activity prospects.

Following Italy’s proposal a Temporary Working Group for reorganization of CEI was established, which also includes a Bulgarian representative. The main objective of the revamp is to find the most efficient way for the functioning of the Initiative, to determine its positioning among other organizations in the region and to boost cooperation within EU, as well as to support CEI countries, which are currently members of the block, in their EU structures integration.

The foreign ministers’ meeting agenda also includes discussions of the state of the Cooperation Fund in the coming year, CEI’s presidency next year and the years after that, and election of a new General Secretary of the organization.