The candidature of Rijeka and Opatija in Priština was presented by the vice-mayor of the City of Rijeka Miroslav Matešić and the head of the Congressional Office in Opatija Goran Pavlović. In addition to Rijeka, the candidacy for hosting the Assembly in 2013, was also presented by the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.

The Assembly will take place at the Zamet Centre in Rijeka, where about 300 participants are expected to take part, among them about one hundred mayors of cities and communes from the region of South-East Europe.

NALAS is the network of local authorities of South-East Europe. It gathers 15 associations which represent about 4000 local self-government units for more than 80 million inhabitants of this region.

NALAS promotes decentralisation processes, in co-operation with state authorities and international organisations, starting from the assumption that local self-government is the key factor in the transition process, through which many countries of South-East Europe pass. The association is closely connected with the Council of Europe, and it has an observer status at meetings of the Board of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union.

Within Croatian accession to the EU, the Association of Croatian Cities proposed as the central topic of NEXPO "EU Integration Processes and their Influence on Local Self-Government". Within the event, congress and exhibition parts will be organised, as well as a cultural programme and a tourism and promoting range of activities and events. Moreover, during panel discussions, the following topics will be discussed: conservation of cultural and historic heritage, urban and rural development, EU funding and energy efficiency. Also, within NEXPO, a general meeting of NALAS will be held.

The Office of the City of Rijeka
PR Associate
Lea Stoiljković Medved