Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani and his Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zakharieva will co-chair on Monday a meeting of foreign ministers of the Berlin Process for the Western Balkans, as part of the North Macedonia and Bulgaria Berlin Process joint presidency.
The meeting is taking place ahead of the Sofia Summit on Tuesday, which is to launch a new action plan on establishing a common regional market, as well as the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans developed by the European Commission and the Regional Cooperation Council.
Due to the COVID-19 situation, the meeting of foreign ministers will be held via video conference, hosted by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani and Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zakharieva will co-chair the meeting, which includes a plenary session on the opportunities and challenges of the Berlin Process for the Western Balkans in the context of trust-building measures and improvement of regional cooperation, including improved human and infrastructure networking.
Discussions will tackle the topic of youth and civil society in the Western Balkans.
The meeting will also involve representatives of the European Commission, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO).
After the video conference, FMs Osmani and Zakharieva will hold an online press conference.
In addition, as part of the joint presidency, a Think Tank and Civil Society Forum will also take place on Monday, organized by the European Council on Foreign Relations – Sofia office, and the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” Skopje.
The Berlin Process is a political initiative launched by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in August 2014. It includes the countries of the Western Balkans (North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro), sponsored and supported by several EU members – Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Great Britain, Poland, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
