2018 Western Balkans Summit, London

The 2018 Western Balkans Summit in London, United Kingdom, was the fifth annual summit within the Berlin Process initiative for European integration of Western Balkans states. The summit took place on July 9-10.[2] Previous summits took place in Berlin in 2014, Vienna in 2015, Paris in 2016 and Trieste in 2017. Heads of government, foreign ministers and the ministers of economy of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo[lower-alpha 1], Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, as well as EU member states from the region Croatia, Slovenia and EU member states such as the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Germany, Italy as well as representatives of the European Union and the International Financial Institutions attended the summit.

Western Balkans Summit "London Balkans 2018"
Participating non-EU states   Participating EU states   Rest of the EU
Host country	United Kingdom[1]
Dates	July 9-10 2018
Cities	United Kingdom London
Participants	European Union Albania Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Germany Greece Italy Kosovo[lower-alpha 1] France Republic of Macedonia Montenegro Serbia Slovenia United Kingdom
Chair	Theresa May
Follows	2017 Western Balkans Summit, Trieste
Precedes	2019 Western Balkans Summit, Poznań
Key points
Future enlargement of the European Union

By hosting the summit in London, the United Kingdom demonstrated its continued interest and involvement in the stability of the region beyond its imminent exit from the EU.[3]

Proposed Agenda

Andrew Page, the Summit's coordinator, stated that the priorities of the summit are to be economic stability, interconnectivity, infrastructure, employment opportunities, and digital transformation.[2] The UK's government stated the three main objectives were increasing economic stability, strengthening regional security co-operation, and facilitating political cooperation.[3]

Issues Addressed

According to a press release from the government of the United Kingdom,[3] the summit focused on three areas.

The issues primarily discussed included increasing economic stability within the scope of improving the business environment, promoting entrepreneurship, curbing youth unemployment, and promoting regional inter-connectivity. Also on the table was strengthening regional security co-operation to help tackle common threats, including corruption, serious and organised crime, trafficking of people, drugs and firearms, and terrorism and violent extremism. The final topic was facilitating political cooperation to consolidate democracy in the region and resolve disputes from the breakup of Yugoslavia and Kosovo declaration of independence.

2019 Western Balkans Summit

Participants agreed on the Western Balkan's eventual path into the EU and agreed the next Berlin Process Summit would take place in Poland in 2019.

Notes and references

Notes:

1. Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 112 UN member states recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition.

References:

1. Robin Emmott. "Balkans must join the EU eventually, European leaders say". Retrieved 13 July 2017.
2. European Western Balkans. "Next Western Balkans Summit to be held in London July 9-10". Retrieved 8 February 2018.
3. UK Government. "About the Western Balkans Summit". Retrieved 25 July 2018.

See also

• Berlin Process
• Southeast Europe
• Stabilisation and Association Process
• Central European Free Trade Agreement
• Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe