Brussels, 15/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - MEP Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES), will take part in a conference in Sofia on 29 and 30 May on “The EU and the Balkans: developing a progressive agenda for accession”. The conference has been organised by the PES and will include the leaders of the Socialist and Social Democratic parties of the region. Taking part from the EU will be Jean Asselborn, Luxemburg Foreign Minister, and Baroness Jan Royall, Member of the House of Lords, and from the region there will be the Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Serguei Stanishev and Montenegro Milo Djukanovic, and the leaders of the SDP in Serbia and Montenegro Ranko Krivokapic, the SPD in Bosnia and Montenegro Zlatko Lagumdzija, the SDP in Croatia Ivan Raçan and the PSD in Romania Mircea Geoana. The main topics for debate will be the future of Kosovo, developing cooperation among the Balkan countries, the Western Balkans on the way to EU integration and new economic and social perspectives for the Western Balkans, says a press release.