On July 9, 2018, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati attended the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the countries participating in the Berlin Process, in the context of the London Summit devoted to the Western Balkans.

The meeting focused on the European perspective of the Western Balkans; enhancing the region’s security and stability as an added value to European security; addressing common security challenges; opening up prospects for the youth as the biggest asset of the societies in the countries of the region; as well as strengthening Western Balkans countries commitment to democracy, rule of law, fight against corruption and organized crime.

In his remarks, Minister Bushati stressed that that reinforcing the cooperation between the countries of the region and the EU on security issues, both strategically and operationally, is of crucial importance to strengthening regional security and to successfully addressing common challenges in this respect. Our countries, underlined the Minister, over the last years have made tremendous progress towards achieving peace, stability and close regional co-operation, accomplishments that have been made possible thanks to the common European perspective.

Minister Bushati underlined that the Berlin Process has played a very important role in these achievements, primarily thanks to a sense of ownership of the process of economic cooperation between the countries in the region and with the EU.

The Foreign Ministers from the Western Balkans countries, the senior EU representatives, as well as high officials from UK as the country hosting the Summit, reaffirmed not only the unequivocal support to the European perspective of the Western Balkans , but also their commitment to strengthen the development and transformation of the Western Balkans into a stable and secure region, with increased opportunities for economic growth and prosperity, and for an enhanced understanding and willingness in resolving open bilateral issues and overcoming the legacy of the past.