Brussels, 26/08/2014 (Agence Europe) - European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Commission Vice-President and Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger, and Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle will attend the Western Balkans conference organised by the German government in Berlin on Thursday 28 August. “The aim is to reiterate the Union's commitment to the European perspective of all Western Balkan countries and support for the accession process, not least by facilitating increased regional cooperation”, stated the European Commission in a press release on Tuesday 26 August.
The heads of government and ministers from all six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) will be attending, while Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and France will participate at leaders' and/or ministerial level. Barroso will have a one-hour bilateral meeting with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, and will then participate in the leaders' meeting. In particular, he will introduce the discussion on regional cooperation and the EU dimension. Füle will participate in the meeting with the foreign affairs ministers, and Oettinger in a Western Balkans business meeting. The summit will finish with a working dinner. (CG)