Meeting of EU and Western Balkans Leaders

BRUSSELS, (Patria) - An informal meeting and dinner of European Union and Western Balkans leaders, organized by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, is being held in Brussels this evening.

Željko Komšić, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is also attending the meeting, and the hosts, along with Michel, are Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Croatia.

"The leaders of the six Western Balkan countries will join President Michel, President von der Leyen, Croatian Prime Minister Plenković and High Representative Borrell on February 16th for the first informal meeting in Brussels dedicated to preparations for the EU-Western Balkans summit, which will be held in Zagreb in May 2020. The leaders of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia are visiting Brussels on the occasion of the international donors' conference for Albania, which will be held on February 17th at the European Commission premises. The aim of the conference is to contribute to the reconstruction efforts in Albania after the earthquake that hit it in November last year," it was announced in the meeting invitation from the European Council.

Besides Komšić, Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia, Milo Đukanović, President of Montenegro, Nikola Dimitrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Hashim Thaçi, President of Kosovo, and Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, have arrived in Brussels.

With this meeting, the new EU leadership wants to emphasize its unconditional support and commitment to the Western Balkans region. This is the first meeting of EU and Western Balkans leaders after the European elections in 2019.