Brnabić today in Tirana at the Summit of the Berlin Process

Brnabić today in Tirana at the Summit of the Berlin Process

For the first time this year, the summit of the Berlin Process is being held outside the framework of the European Union, and the leaders of the Balkans and the EU, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as European Council President Charles Michel will be hosted by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

One of the main topics is expected to be the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, after the conflict in Banjska.

As previously announced, Pristina will be represented at the Summit by Albin Kurti, and Belgrade by Ana Brnabić.

Before the start of the summit, Prime Minister Brnabić will hold a bilateral meeting with the President of Hungary, Katalin Novak, and during the break of the summit, she will meet with the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, James Cleverly.

The summit of the Berlin Process will start at 11 a.m. During the two sessions, the leaders will discuss the perspective of the region, its economic empowerment and integration in stages, and the EU will once again present its views on the European path of the Western Balkans.

The first session is entitled "Integration of the region into the single market and improvement of convergence with the EU", while the leaders will discuss the topic "Good neighborly relations and bilateral issues: Towards a new European paradigm" at the working lunch.

The second session is "Supporting the Green and Digital Transition in the Western Balkans: Challenges and Opportunities for Investment and Growth".

It was announced that an agreement on the recognition of professional qualifications between the countries of the region will be signed as part of the Summit, and the inauguration of the College of Europe, whose rector is Federica Mogherini, will be held.

As stated in the agenda of the Summit, the joint press conference will be addressed by Edi Rama, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.

The Berlin process was initiated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on August 28, 2014, and the first conference was held in Berlin, and aims to unite the countries of the Western Balkans (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania) with nine members of EU and Great Britain, European Union institutions, international financial institutions and regional cooperation initiatives.

Heads of government meet at summits in various European cities, line ministers discuss specific topics, and regional cooperation initiatives work to harmonize details.

The Berlin Process is an intergovernmental initiative whose goal is to connect the countries of the Western Balkans and the European Union on their way to EU membership and help them to build mutual relations on the basis of European values.

In the Berlin process, the focus is on standards in accordance with the EU acquis.

It consists of all the countries of the Western Balkans that are not members of the European Union and are part of the Berlin Process: Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania, which is a market of 18 million people.

Agreements on the mutual recognition of identity cards, university diplomas and professional qualifications have been signed at previous Summits.

Previously agreed cooperation encompassed the fields of transport, energy, ecology, digitization and roaming.

The main achievements of the Berlin Process are: Establishment of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RICO), Chamber Investment Forum, Agreement on Regional Roaming (implementation started on July 1, 2021), termination of the agreement on lower data roaming prices between the Western Balkans and the member states of the European Union (entered into force on October 1, 2023), the three mobility agreements are important achievements of regional cooperation within the framework of the Berlin Process.

The Berlin process is under the auspices of the European Union, and in addition to the countries of the Western Balkans, Germany, France, Austria, the United Kingdom and Italy, Greece, Italy, Poland, Croatia and Slovenia are also members.