Talks of presidents of regional countries and Merkel begin

BELGRADE - Presidents of countries from Southeast Europe gathered in Dubrovnik on Tuesday where they will confer with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the summit within the Brdo-Brijuni process.

The arrival of the presidents of regional countries and the German chancellor was greeted by a large number of tourists and citizens and the heads of states were welcomed by presidents of Croatia and Slovenia in front of the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik.

The German chancellor, escorted by security guards, was welcomed with a round of applause by citizens gathered in Stari Grad, and she shook hands and exchanged a few greetings with them as she passed by.

At the beginning of the plenary meeting which was open to the media, Merkel reiterated that Germany will not go back on its promise of support to the European perspective for all countries in the Western Balkans.

All countries have a European perspective, but before obtaining EU membership, they need to meet all the conditions so as to avoid problems later on, she said.

The host of the summit, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, and his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor pointed in their speeches to the importance of Merkel's attendance at the summit, noting that this is a clear signal of support to the countries in the region on their EU path.

The summit in Dubrovnik constitutes the continuation of the strategic dialogue between leaders from Southeast Europe launched a year ago, when Croatia achieved EU membership, and it continued by the meeting between French President Francois Hollande at Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, on July 25, 2013.

In addition to the presidents of Croatia and Slovenia, the summit in Dubrovnik is attended by Serbian President...

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