Vienna Summit Binds Balkan States to Broad Reforms

The six Balkan nations meeting in Vienna obliged themselves in the final declaration of the Western Balkans Summit, issued on Thursday, to refrain from "misusing outstanding issues in the EU accession process" and welcomed the EU pledge to support them in resolving bilateral disputes.

The summit was a part of the Berlin Process, a five-year process started last August and marked by yearly summits held to underline the EU's commitment to enlargement.

The initiative focuses on the six Balkan countries that are not yet EU members: Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Austrian and German leaders hailed the summit as proof of the EU's commitment to the region, announced support for key infrastucture projects and pledged solidarity over the ongoing refugee crisis affecting several Balkan states.

The participants also welcomed the conclusion of four important agreements in the EU-led talks between Serbia and Kosovo.

They also greeted the signature of a border agreement between Bosnia and Montenegro on the margins of the conference.

They further stated that efforts need to be intensified to find a compromise in the dispute between Greece and Macedonia over the latter's name, to which Athens objects.

Balkan leaders and EU officials concluded that more efforts are needed to accelerate reform processes, notably in the areas of rule of law, economic governance and public administration as well as in the fight against corruption, organized crime and terrorism.

"The participants are convinced that the threat posed by radicalisation, terrorism and violent extremism and in particular by foreign terrorist fighters travelling via or from Western Balkan countries to Syria and Iraq, requires strengthened...