Southeastern Europe

Ljubljana – The EU integration of Western Balkan countries is important for the bloc’s strategic position in the world. It is also an opportunity for Slovenian businesses, Foreign Minister Anže Logar said at an event the Institute of Strategic Solutions organised to discuss integration and economic ties with the Western Balkans.

Belgrade – Visiting Belgrade as part of the preparations for the next summit of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, President Borut Pahor met his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić on Sunday. Pahor said that the process of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans was too slow, which led to renewed policies of nationalism and border changes that threaten security.

Belgrade – President Borut Pahor will visit Serbia on Sunday and Kosovo on Monday as he prepares for the next summit of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, a regional cooperation initiative. He is scheduled to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić today, and Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti tomorrow.

Sarajevo – Interior Minister Aleš Hojs took part in a regional ministerial conference in Sarajevo on Thursday, advocating the strengthening of cooperation and partnership in the Western Balkans region regarding migration management and maintaining security, said the Interior Ministry.

This point "recommends" the way of reporting on the EU to the countries of the Western Balkans. However, Sputnik's interlocutors call this "recommendation" of the EU an instrument of discipline.

As EU leaders gather for a summit on Wednesday on how to keep engaging with their Western Balkans neighbors, the bloc's once-successful enlargement policy faces an impasse, AP reported.

The first point confirms the unequivocal enlargement strategy, and a small surprise is in the item number three, according to the Belgrade media.
Although it was previously announced that EU support will not be on the table in front of the region's leaders, the opposite has happened.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pointed out today, before the EU-Western Balkans Summit on Brdo near Kranj, that the Western Balkans need a true and sincere European perspective.

Brdo pri Kranju – Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič hosted a meeting of parliamentary speakers from the Western Balkans on Monday, saying that the EU must give the region a clear signal on when it could expect EU accession. The speakers of the Serbian and Montenegrin parliaments also called for more clarity regarding the EU enlargement.

Angela Merkel visited the Albanian capital Tirana on Tuesday, the last stop on a brief farewell Balkan tour which saw the German chancellor encourage the countries in the region to push ahead with reforms to improve their chances of joining the European Union.