Vučić arrived in Tirana at the summit of European Political Community; A number of important meetings

Vučić was met at the airport by the Minister of Health and Social Protection of Albania, Albana Koçiu.

Tonight, the President will attend a dinner organized by the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, for the participants of the Summit from the Western Balkans region and the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, with officials of the European Union, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy and Security and the Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas.

The summit will discuss the improvement of political dialogue and cooperation in order to strengthen security and stability on the European continent, announced the Office for Media Relations of the President of the Republic.

During the Summit in the capital of the Republic of Albania, President Vučić will participate in a round table on the topic of preserving European security and strengthening democratic stability.

A series of bilateral meetings of Vučić with European officials are also planned, including the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Keir Starmer, the Federal Chancellor of Austria Christian Stocker and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset. The Sixth Summit of the European Political Community (EPC) will gather in Tirana leaders from all over Europe - 27 EU members and 20 non-member states.

It will be the first time that a Western Balkan country hosts the Summit, and the theme of the meeting is "New Europe in the new world: unity - cooperation - joint action".

As stated in the announcement published on the website of the Summit in Tirana, the Summit will be chaired by the President of the European Council (EC) Antonio Costa, together with the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama.

So far, no one has refused the invitation, which was sent to all European countries, except Belarus, Russia and the Vatican. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, as well as the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, will attend the summit.

For German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, this will be the first multilateral meeting, and the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is also expected, although this may not be confirmed until the last moment.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also scheduled to attend, although he has not participated in any previous EPZ summits.

In the announcement on the Summit website, it is added that the heads of key European and international institutions will also participate in the meeting.

The leaders will meet in a plenary session dedicated to security and a common vision for the future of Europe, and then they will discuss European security and democratic resilience, including the war in Ukraine, competitiveness and economic security, as well as youth empowerment at three round tables.

In the statement published on the website of the Summit in Tirana, it is estimated that the holding of the summit in the Western Balkans signifies not only a symbolic recognition of the place of Southeast Europe in European politics, but also a strategic investment in the role of the region in shaping the future of the continent.

It is emphasized that the summit in Tirana is being held at a time when Europe is at a critical turning point, while the war in Ukraine is ongoing and tensions are growing at the global level, and that therefore EPC should respond to common challenges and chart a common future course. The idea of ​​the EPC was presented by French President Emmanuel Macron during his address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on May 9, 2022, as a direct response to the war in Ukraine. The EPC meets at the highest level twice a year, with the host rotating.

The European Political Community is not a body of the EU, nor is it a substitute for membership, but it is, in fact, a forum for "talks without obligations" because no specific decisions or final announcements are made during the summit, and it does not have its own permanent seat or secretariat.

There is much less official protocol at EPC summits than at NATO or EU summits. Previous summits were held in the Czech Republic, Moldova, Spain, Great Britain and Hungary, and the next EPC meeting will be held in Denmark in the fall of this year.