Agenda highlights
The EU-Western Balkans summit will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 17 May 2018.
What are the summit’s objectives?
The summit will aim to inject new energy in the EU-Western Balkans relationship. It will seek to:
- reaffirm the EU’s commitment towards its Western Balkans partners and reiterate the region’s belonging to the European family
- strengthen links between the EU and the Western Balkans in infrastructure, digital and human connectivity
- work more closely together to tackle common challenges, such as security, migration, geopolitical developments and good neighbourly relations
The summit will be centred on the theme of connectivity with a view to improve the links with the Western Balkans and within the region. In February this year Donald Tusk stressed the importance of the summit for building strong connections with the Western Balkans:
“We will aim to strengthen connections both with and within the region. This spans from more investments in transport infrastructure, through multiplication of educational and cultural exchanges to making communication among our citizens easier and faster. The summit will also aim to boost cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including security and migration.”
President Tusk’ remarks following his meeting with Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, 13 February 2018
Who will attend the summit?
The EU-Western Balkans summit will bring together:
- heads of state or government from EU member states
- leaders from the 6 Western Balkans partners: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo*
The meeting will be hosted by Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council.
The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, will chair the meeting. He will represent the EU together with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.
The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, are also expected to be present.
President Tusk’s visit the region ahead of the summit
From 24 to 27 April President Tusk travelled to Tirana, Podgorica, Belgrade, Pristina, Sarajevo and Skopje. He met with the leaders of each Western Balkans partner to prepare for the upcoming summit and to discuss bilateral relations with the EU. At the end of his tour in the region, President Tusk participated in the Brdo-Brijuni process summit in Skopje.
“This week I have been travelling through the entire region. I came to the Western Balkans with a clear message from the leaders of all European Union Member States: we remain steadfast in our offer of a European perspective to the region. You can count on us.”
President Donald Tusk at the press conference of the Brdo-Brijuni summit, 27 April 2018
Side events
President Tusk has invited EU leaders to an informal dinner ahead of the summit. This dinner is part of the Leader’s Agenda and it will focus on digital Europe, research, and innovation. Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, will host the dinner at the Sofia Tech Park.
The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council has also scheduled several side events around the summit. They will provide an opportunity to showcase the breadth of EU-Western Balkans relations beyond intergovernmental aspects.
On 16 May, the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies are organising the conference ‘In dialogue with the Western Balkans: creating a region of growth, security and connectivity on the path to Europe’.
Also on 16 May, the Bulgarian Forum for Business Leaders is organising the event ‘Investment prospective: Western Balkans’. It will focus on economic potential of the Western Balkans as well as investment horizons in the region.
On 17 May, the World Economic Forum is co-hosting a strategic dialogue on the Western Balkans together with the Bulgarian presidency. The objective will be to advance private public partnerships to support investment in the region.
On 18 May, the Vienna Economic Forum will host the ‘Sofia Talks 2018’ focusing on regional economic cooperation.
On the same day, an event on the circular economy and clean technologies will be organised by the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters and Cleatech Bulgaria.
In addition, the European External Action Service (EEAS) launched the EU-Western Balkans cultural heritage route. Several initiatives and events will be organised to promote the rich cultural heritage of the Western Balkans, as part of the European year of cultural heritage.
Programme
17/05/2018
09:15 Arrivals
10:00 Plenary session: connectivity
13:00 Family photo
13:15 Working lunch: tackling common challenges
15:00 Press conference
Background information
In March 2017, EU leaders reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the European perspective for the Western Balkans:
“The European Council […] reaffirmed its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans. Welcoming the progress made by the countries of the region, the European Council stresses that the EU remains committed and engaged at all levels to support them in conducting EU-oriented reforms and projects.”
Conclusions by the President of the European Council, 9 March 2017
On 6 February 2018, the European Commission adopted a strategy for the Western Balkans. It outlines the European perspective for the region, reforms that need to be implemented, and the EU’s increased support to back the process of change in the Western Balkans. The Commission also announced six EU initiatives to support that process in the region in areas of mutual interest.
- Strategy for the Western Balkans (European Commission)
- Factsheet on the six new EU initiatives (European Commission)
On 8 March 2018, EU home affairs ministers discussed cooperation with the Western Balkans in the area of internal security and counter-terrorism, on the basis of the new strategy presented by the Commission. The outcome of this discussion will feed into the preparations of the summit.
“Security in the Western Balkans has a direct impact on security in the EU. We are committed to better cooperation with the region to counter threats from organised crime and terrorism, and so improve the security of EU citizens.”
Valentin Radev, minister for interior of Bulgaria
The enlargement and stabilisation and association processwill not be discussed during the summit. Instead, it will be assessed in line with established practice. This involves the General Affairs Council taking stock of the enlargement process every year. This year the European Commission will release its regular progress reports on 17 April and the General Affairs Council is expected to adopt conclusions in June.
The EU-Western Balkans summit takes place as part of the Leaders’ Agenda. This a concrete work programme guiding the EU’s action until June 2019. To find out more on the Leaders’ Agenda, go to the following page: