The EU plan, the leaders of the Balkans will meet tomorrow in Skopje
Lajmifundit
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2024-01-21 16:15:32
Kosovë&Rajon
Regional leaders of the Western Balkans and other high officials will gather on Monday, January 22, in Skopje, North Macedonia, to participate in the proceedings of the European Union conference on economic growth of the region.
It is about the "Western Balkans Growth Plan and Faster Integration in the EU" conference. The host of the conference will be the Macedonian Prime Minister, Dimitar Kovacevski.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, will participate in the conference, as will the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, that of Montenegro, Millojko Spajic, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. There will also be representatives from Bosnia-Herzegovina at the meeting.
In addition to them, the United States will be represented by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, James O'Brien. Among the EU officials will be the director of the European Neighborhood Commission, Gert Jan Kopman and other officials.
The EU plan for the Western Balkans aims at the economic growth of the region, the acceleration of appropriate reforms, and the making of investments that can advance the process of EU enlargement with these countries.
The value allocated by the EU for this plan, in the period 2024-2027, is 6 billion euros. The payments are said to be executed only after the discussed reforms are met.
The path of the Western Balkans towards EU membership
Croatia was the first country in the region to apply for EU membership in 2003 and has finalized the process. Meanwhile, other countries have also applied, including Kosovo, in 2022.
Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have managed to get the status of a candidate country for EU membership.
Of these countries, Serbia and Montenegro are the two countries that have made the most progress towards membership in the European bloc, having opened several chapters in the membership talks. Kosovo does not even have the status of a candidate country./REL
