Borrell To Host Informal Dinner for Western Balkan Leaders in Brussels on May 11, 2022

Joseph Borrell Western Balkans leaders(BETAPHOTO/European Council/Zucchi Enzo/MO)

Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, will be holding an informal dinner in Brussels on May 11 for the six leaders of the Western Balkans, the European External Action Service has announced.

The meeting is one of two held annually – a tradition where the region’s heads are invited to discuss the future of the Western Balkans and the challenges it faces. “The Agenda includes Europe’s changed security environment in light of the illegal Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the statement reads.

According to unofficial reports, the dinner will be attended by the presidents of Serbia and Montenegro, Aleksandar Vucic and Milo Djukanovic, the prime ministers of North Macedonia and Albania, Dimitar Kovacevski and Edi Rama, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija, while Kosovo will be represented by its foreign minister, Donika Gervalla.

The tradition of the EU high representative hosting biannual informal dinners for the six Western Balkan leaders – where they can discuss the situation in the region and EU-Western Balkan relations – began last year in May, when they gathered in Brussels. The second meeting took place last September in New York, on the fringes of a session of the U.N. General Assembly.