The leaders of the European Union (EU), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo will meet today in Brussels at the European Union-Western Balkans Summit. The summit will be attended by the Chairwoman of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović, at the invitation of the President of the European Council Antonio Costa and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
An unnamed EU official told Anadolu Agency that the focus of the talks will be on general issues of relations between the European Union and the Western Balkan countries.
He stressed that the issue of EU enlargement will not be on the agenda as such, but will be discussed indirectly.
“There is also the geopolitical context of this summit that makes it even more interesting. The war in Ukraine and Russian influence in many parts of Europe, including the Western Balkans, make it imperative for us to strengthen our relationship with our partners,” the official said.
He added that the summit is definitely a good opportunity to reaffirm the Western Balkans’ perspective for EU membership.
The first session of the summit will discuss political issues, while the second session will focus on economic issues. Strengthening good neighbourliness and implementing the European Development Plan will be among the important topics of the summit.
“The Western Balkans belong to the European family. Their future will be within the EU. I think that is the political message that should come out of this summit,” the official said.
The last EU-Western Balkans summit was held on 13 December 2023. At that time, the EU said that it supported the membership of the Western Balkan countries, but that it expected them to implement the necessary reforms.
Photo: archive
