11/02/2025 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 10 February in Rome, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani presented his country’s position setting out concrete proposals for speeding up candidate countries’ accession to the European Union, at a ministerial meeting between the six countries of the Western Balkans and the ‘friends of the Western Balkans’ group (Austria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia). The Italian position is threefold, according to a press release from the Italian authorities: gradual integration into certain sectoral policies (cybersecurity, strengthening public administration, migration management, business cooperation); simplifying the accession negotiation process “to avoid blockages and crossed vetoes especially on technical steps”; and strategic communication on the benefits of EU membership for citizens. The ministerial meeting focused on the security and economic integration of the Balkan countries: https://aeur.eu/f/ffn (MB)