Zvizdić in Durrës with Hahn and regional leaders

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić will attend an informal meeting of Western Balkan prime ministers, hosted by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Edi Rama.

The Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, will travel to Durrës (Albania) on Saturday, August 26, to attend an informal meeting of the Western Balkan six prime ministers.

The focus of the meeting will be on promoting the implementation of commitments undertaken in July 2017 at the Summit in Trieste, particularly the Action Plan for deepening economic integration in the region.

The regional economic zone agreed upon at the Summit in Trieste, as announced by the European Union Delegation to BiH, will provide new opportunities for both businesses and citizens, and strengthen growth and the labour market. The next concrete steps will include: mutual recognition of professional qualifications, identification and removal of bureaucratic and regulatory obstacles hindering trade and investment in the region, establishment of a regional dialogue on digital transformation, and initiation of negotiations on a dispute resolution mechanism.

- The European Commission strongly supports regional cooperation in the Western Balkans as an integral part of the regional perspective in the context of EU accession, through significant investments in infrastructure connecting the region, the economy and people within the region itself, as well as cooperation between the Western Balkans and the European Union - the EU Delegation's statement reads.

The meeting will be hosted by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and will be attended by the Prime Ministers of Serbia Ana Brnabić, Kosovo Isa Mustafa, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić, and the Prime Ministers of Macedonia Zoran Zaev and Montenegro Duško Marković.