The Austrian Government is organizing a Western Balkans summit in Vienna on Friday to discuss bringing the region back on the European Union’s agenda.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has invited Western Balkan leaders for talks on the European perspective, as well as fight against COVID-19, economic recovery, and repatriation of illegal migration.
The summit will welcome North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija, Montenegro’s Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, as well as the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajčák, and a representative of Albania’s Government.
Ahead of the summit, Kurz said Western Balkan countries have Austria’s full support on the EU path and in the fight against the pandemic.
“The EU will only be complete if all of the Western Balkan states have joined,” Kurz said, adding that the EU should focus more on the EU accession process.
He stressed that the meeting will also focus on the common fight against illegal migration, as Austria’s Interior Ministry experts show concern about the end of the pandemic possibly leading to a rise in illegal migration.
Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer has thus recently launched an initiative on repatriation plans for illegal migrants with the Western Balkans governments.
