Varhelyi in Tirana: We Are Committed to Quick Implementation of New Western Balkan Growth Strategy

Oliver Varhelyi, Tirana, July 17 2023 (Photo: PrinrScreen YouTube)

Oliver Varhelyi, European commissioner for enlargement and neighborhood policy, said in Tirana, where he met with the prime ministers of four Western Balkan countries on July 17, that the European Union was committed to the quick implementation of a growth strategy for the region.

"Invited by [Albanian PM Edi Rama] to Tirana to discuss how to accelerate the economic [and] social integration of the [Western Balkan Six]. Together with Prime Ministers [of Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro] talked through the New Growth Strategy for the [Western Balkans]. We are committed to carry out this convergence plan fast," Varhelyi Tweeted.

Neither Borjana Kristo, presiding over the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti were present at a working lunch on EU-Western Balkan relations, as part of preparations for the Berlin Process Summit slated to take place in Tirana on Oct. 16. Kurti was attending an international symposium in Greece, and Rama's cabinet did not permit Deputy Premier Besnik Bislimi to come in his stead.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said in Tirana that the Open Balkan initiative continued to function without impediment and would continue to do so.

North Macedonian PM Dimitar Kovacevski said the EU's plan for accelerated Western Balkan integration rested on several foundational pillars -- faster association of Western Balkan countries with the shared EU market, increased funds for financing important regional projects, increasing economic cooperation and integration of Western Balkan countries and acceleration of key reforms in each of the states.