Balkans

He told the Croatian Express that the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU is a process based on merit and that as such, it is in the true interest of the EU.
"It's about 'exporting stability instead of importing instability,'" Hahn, a former commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and enlargement negotiations, had pointed out.

Turkey is keen on increasing its tourist flow through joint tourist packages with Bulgaria and Greece when the land and sea borders fully reopen.    This was announced by Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Ersoy at a meeting with businessmen in Izmir.

Bosnia's Central Election Commission, CIK, has postponed local elections due in October for six weeks, to November 15, after political rows held up the adoption of a budget for 2020 and funding for the ballot within the legally permitted deadline to start preparations. 

As Europe starts to ease itself out of the COVID-19-related lockdown, some countries in the Western Balkans also hope they have seen the worst of the pandemic.

Montenegro and Croatia have either not registered any new cases of COVID-19 for days, or have marked only single-digit numbers, prompting a gradual easing of movement restrictions and safety measures.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu participated on Tuesday in the regional videoconference at ministerial level on the topic of managing the social-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which context he voiced support for the adoption, at European level, in the next period, of documents representing the negotiation frameworks with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, follow

Although almost three weeks have passed since the International Monetary Fund transferred 330 million euros to Bosnia and Herzegovina to combat the coronavirus crisis, the country's political leaders have not yet agreed on how to distribute the money.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to "roll up their sleeves" and reach a mutual agreement.

During virtual talks at the EU-Western Balkans summit, Merkel spoke with Aleksandar Vučić and Hashim Thaçi and called on them to reach an agreement by the end of this year, BGNES reported, citing the Ina news agency.

Speaking at a briefing on May 6 after his participation in the EU-Western Balkans Summit, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that the EU is mobilizing very quickly a package of more than 3.3 billion euros for the health systems of the Western Balkans.

The Western Balkans not only provides China with a convenient foothold inside of Europe but is also in need of infrastructure investment and possesses a well-educated and reasonably priced labor force.

Furthermore, the region's comparatively weaker and looser regulatory policy framework that governs business activity also makes the Western Balkans appealing to Chinese corporations.

Although the European Union is going through a time of crisis, it will not abandon its strategic objectives and closest partners, President Kalus Iohannis said on Wednesday at the summit of leaders of EU member states with representatives of the Western Balkans, which took place in video conferencing system, informs a press release of the Presidential Administration.