Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Igor Lukšić participated in a meeting of foreign ministers within the Brdo Process, which was held in Ljubljana on Thursday.
The meeting was opened by Slovenian President Borut Pahor, and the first part of the working session was addressed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia Karl Erjevec, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn.
The meeting focused on issues related to further strengthening regional cooperation, with emphasis on specific projects particularly in the context of the Berlin process, as well as to strengthening security and stability in the European neighbourhood.
The foreign ministers adopted a joint declaration which strongly confirms that the Western Balkan region remains firmly anchored in the process of EU integration, which further contributes to extensive and continuous cooperation among the countries of the region in various fields.
The Western Balkan’s foreign ministers agreed that their further efforts should be concentrated on boosting infrastructural links as a prerequisite for more rapid economic development and, in that context, they discussed future steps towards defining a unified list of priority projects which will result in enhancing connections within the region, as well as with the EU.
The Ljubljana’s meeting also discussed projects focused on alleviating consequences of the recent flooding to the region, as well as the perspective of strengthening and implementing youth policy and overall development of the Western Balkans.
The meeting was attended by ministers of foreign affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Italy and Serbia. It was agreed that cooperation among the countries of the region is meaningful and that it contributes to the success of the European integration process. The meeting also addressed current perspective of the region and future directions and mechanisms of improvements, of both bilateral relations and overall regional cooperation.