Southeastern Europe

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed to bring the economies of the Western Balkans and the European Union 'closer' on Monday as she began a four-day tour of the region. Her plan includes a €6 billion investment package, to be delivered on condition the countries make reforms to open up their economies, overcome their conflicts and modernize their administrations.

SKOPJE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said after Monday's meeting of Brdo-Brijuni Process leaders in Skopje that an attempt had been made to find a common denominator and that the European future had been discussed in a constructive debate.

BELGRADE - Ahead of Monday's meeting of Brdo-Brijuni Process leaders in Skopje, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia, as always, remained consistent in its sincere advocacy of creating an atmosphere of mutual trust, understanding and respect.

The recent gathering of Western Balkan leaders along with top European Union officials in Athens, following an invitation from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (on the 20th anniversary of a summit between the EU and Western Balkan countries in the northern port city of Thessaloniki) was naturally overshadowed by the previously unannounced presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelens

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic said on Tuesday in Brussels Serbia had become an engine of development in the Western Balkans and had a vital interest in diversifying its energy supplies.

Orlic was speaking at a conference on the Western Balkans that is traditionally attended by European People's Party members.

LONDON - Commenting on the latest developments in the north of Kosovo-Metohija, Serbian PM Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday they were another provocation by Pristina's PM Albin Kurti, who she said was causing a fresh escalation and a new wave of violence to avoid commitments from the Brussels and Ohrid agreements, including the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities.

PRISTINA, June 6 (Tanjug) - As soon as possible, Europe needs to accept the fact the Western Balkans is not a region of problems and trouble, but of potentials no other European region has, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (PKS) President Marko Cadez said on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said in Brussels on Monday there had been no pressure on Serbia at his meeting with EU and Western Balkan FMs earlier in the day and that he was pleasantly surprised that nearly all EU FMs had spoken about a need for the Western Balkans to join the bloc as soon as possible within concrete timeframes.

"Europe starts in Berlin and reaches Athens and goes through all the Balkans. Without the Balkans, without Greece, there can be no European Union," says the former president of Germany, Christian Wulff (2010-2012), in an interview with Kathimerini looking back on the difficult relationship between Greece and Germany during the years of the economic crisis.

Now, from a historical distance of three decades, it is possible to analyse these documents. A particularly interesting question is how the various intelligence predictions about the situation in Bosnia measured up to what actually happened.