On 7 December 2016, Foreign Affairs Minister Ditmir Bushati attended the annual summit of the Western Balkans organized by "Friends of Europe", themed "Balkans – Boosting connections on the road to the EU".

The high level Summit was also attended by the Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn, former Commissioner Stefan Fule, Director for the Balkans in the EU Foreign Service Angelina Eichhorst, MEP Tanja Fajon, and many other worthies and researchers of European affairs.

Among the topics discussed at the summit were the revival of the European integration process, promoting business and investments in the region, region’s interconnection, migration, employment, youth cooperation, and the risk of radicalization.

In his remarks at the panel "EU membership: the long road from vision to reality”, Minister Bushati dwelt on the special and positive contribution that EU membership has made in the process of democratization and state consolidation of Western Balkan countries and regional cooperation. At the same time, he highlighted the successful cooperation between the Western Balkan countries and the EU in addressing common challenges of security, underscoring that "The Western Balkan countries are important partners and play a special role in the continent’s security architecture. Therefore, this positive approach should be reflected in the enlargement policy as it is of mutual benefit to both parties "- Minister Bushati emphasized.

Focusing on the adoption of the Vetting Law for the implementation of the judicial reform, Minister Bushati said that "The European Commission has highlighted the particular importance of the implementation of the Vetting Law as a ground for the judicial reform and the impact it will have on fulfilling other key priorities".