One year after its foundation, the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) assembled on Monday in Chisinau, for the first time outside of the EU. The conference brought together over 100 representatives of Eastern Partnership and the EU member states, 15 altogether, reports Info-Prim Neo. “CORLEAP is a communication platform. We set ourselves the goal to have prepared a report by the Eastern Partnership Summit in 2013, on the role of local and regional authorities. EU praises what is currently happening in Moldova”, stated Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, co-president of the CORLEAP. Head of the Committee of the Regions Ramon Luis Valcarcel Siso, CORLEAP co-president, stated that this project’s mission is to promote successful models of local government. “The European Parliament claims that local and regional authorities play an important role in the strengthening of democracy”, said the official. European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva has recalled that the European states currently face an economic crisis. “But, as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. The EU managed to overcome the greatest of difficulties. The states that aim towards a liberalized visa regime should succeed. For, one of CORLEAP’s goals is drawing the Eastern Partnership member states closer to the EU, and their rapid integration into the European economy”, noted Kristalina Georgieva. One of CORLEAP’s initiatives is to inform the masses about the local and regional financing programs. A series of events will be organized in the period of 2012-2013, in Brussels, as well as in other member states of the Eastern Partnership. Some of them will take place as soon as current October, including a seminar on the topic “Open House Day of the Committee of the Regions” and a presentation of the Euro-Caucasian Euro-region in Brussels. The Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership was founded in 2011. Today the platform 44 comprises 36 regional politicians and mayors.