Minister Tajani at the Berlin Summit on the Balkans

Upon instructions from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani, is participating in Berlin at the 10th "Berlin Process" Summit on the Western Balkans. The "Process" is an initiative of EU governments established in 2014 upon the initiative of the then German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to step up the Western Balkan countries' process of entry into the EU.

Minister Tajani stated: "Western Balkans' integration into the EU is a government's priority. Italy's commitment to strengthen cooperation with the Balkan partners is concrete and ongoing. Our goal is the "reunification' of the Western Balkans with Europe." He stressed: "Our country - also as G7 Presidency - is at the forefront in relaunching a positive dynamic in the region", and recalled his visit to Montenegro and North Macedonia in September, as well as the meeting he chaired in New York, on the occasion of the UN Assembly, with the Western Balkans' Ministers together with the Group of "Friends of the Western Balkans' countries".

The Summit, chaired by Chancellor Scholz, is attended by the six countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), together with Austria, Croatia, France, Slovenia, Poland, Greece and Bulgaria - as well as the United Kingdom and the European institutions, including the current Hungarian rotating EU Presidency.

The Summit will include a first working session focused on regional cooperation and the Common Regional Market (CRM) and a second one dedicated to the green agenda, connectivity and energy, followed by an informal discussion with civil society's representatives and young people from the region. The works will be concluded with a lunch dedicated to the future of the Berlin Process. At the Summit, a regional mobility agreement for access to studies will be signed and the new Action Plan for the Common Regional Market 2025-2028 will be adopted, with the aim of providing new momentum to regional cooperation.

The Minister stated: "The Berlin Summit reaffirms the centrality of the Balkan partners' integration with the European Union in the new European institutional cycle. We must continue our action to achieve concrete results in fostering regional cooperation, both in the economic sphere and in the sphere of political dialogue and partner countries' reforms. Italy is ready to play its part, especially in the development of strategic infrastructure and energy transition in the region."