Poland prepares to host Western Balkans Summit
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
02.07.2019 12:00
Leaders and senior government ministers from a host of European countries will meet in the western Polish city of Poznań this week to discuss issues that are key for the Western Balkan region.
Image: gov.pl
The 6th Western Balkans Summit in Poland’s Poznań will be held from Wednesday to Friday as part of the Berlin Process, an initiative launched by Germany and aiming to promote regional cooperation among Western Balkan countries aspiring to join the European Union.
The Berlin Process brings together EU membership candidates Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania, and potential candidates Bosnia-and-Herzegovina and Kosovo, as well as a number of EU member states.
Poland this year holds the rotating presidency of the Berlin Process.
Previous Western Balkans Summits were held in Vienna in 2015; Paris in 2016; Trieste, Italy, in 2017; and London last year.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said after last July’s Western Balkans Summit in the British capital that his country supported the efforts of Western Balkan nations to join the European Union.
He also said at the time that Poland was ready to help Western Balkan countries on their way to EU membership.
“We are ready to share our pre-accession know-how and best practices,” Czaputowicz was quoted as saying after meeting counterparts from several other EU member states and six Western Balkan countries in London.
Ahead of this year’s summit, the Polish foreign ministry has posted online a special video—in Polish, with English subtitles—highlighting the event.
(gs/pk)
Source: gov.pl