ILS Regional Conference in Partnership with Adriatic Institute and Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists a Success

June 20, 2011

The International Leaders Summit (ILS), in partnership with the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy and the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) brought together senior representatives from selected political parties in southeast Europe for a strategic regional conference dedicated to issues pertaining to EU policies and politics. The three-day conference hosted in coastal city of Opatija, Croatia, featured keynote speeches from leading reformers, AECR members and invited guest speakers.

US Senator Jeff Sessions delivers keynote address at the International Leaders Summit - Regional Conference, in partnership with Adriatic Institute and Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, June 16-18, 2011, Opatija, Croatia

The strategic conference allowed leaders from the world of politics with a shared interest in advancing market reforms based on the rule of law to meet with each other, to discuss pertinent issues and to share their experiences and ideas.

Adriatic Institute's Chairman Natasha Srdoc and US Senator Sessions discuss issues affecting Croatia and SE Europe

US Senator Jeff Sessions with Daniel Hannan, MEP, UK and Secretary General, Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists

Maurice McTigue, Former Cabinet Member, New Zealand, Adviser to the US Congress and Adriatic Institute's Executive Advisory Board Member delivers keynote address at ILS - Regional Conference in Opatija, Croatia.

High-level speakers at the conference included US Senator Jeff Sessions, Maurice McTigue, New Zealand's former cabinet minister now advising the US Congress and US State Governors, Jan Zahradil, MEP, Czech Republic and President of AECR, Natasha Srdoc, Co-founder and Chairman of the Adriatic Institute and Co-Founder of ILS, Daniel Hannan, MEP, UK and Secretary General, AECR,  Geoffrey Van Orden, MEP, UK and New Direction President, Nadezdha Neynsky, MEP, Bulgaria and former Bulgarian Foreign Minister  former Bosnian Deputy Defense Minister Igor Crnadak, Emma McClarkin MEP, Serbian MP Nikola Lazic, Macedonian MP Vladimir Gjorcev, Joel Anand Samy, Co-Founder, International Leaders and Senior Advisor, The Heritage Foundation, Ernest Taylor, U.S. businessman and founder, Awakening, Former Croatian Justice Minister Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, Tim Evans from the Cobden Center, Dragas Ivic from G17 Plus, and Mladen Ivanic, the Deputy Speaker of the Bosnian Parliament.

ILS Speakers Kristof Van Der Cruyss, MEP, Belgium and Emma McClarklin, MEP, UK

Ernest Taylor, Chairman, Awakening leads ILS strategic panel on reforms with US Senator Sessions and Maurice McTigue

Sandy Luff, Legislative Director, Office of US Senator Jeff Sessions and Natasha Srdoc 

Strategic themes were discussed at the various panel debates such as the uprisings in the Middle East and their impact on the security of Europe, institutional competition as an engine for growth, national sensitivities and the Single Market, the Sovereign Debt Crisis, the need for national sovereignty, enlargement, immigration and political integration, and the issue of radical free-market reform within the context of political reality and reelection. A roundtable on Saturday morning allowed all participants to present their parties, platforms and countries.