A regional ministerial conference opened in Kosovo on Wednesday, bringing together the Foreign and Infrastructure ministers of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Along with regional decision makers, Johannes Hahn, the EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations, will also participate in the conference as well as Violeta Bulc, the European Commissioner for Transport, who will join via video link.
Ivica Dacic and Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia’s Foreign and Infrastructure ministers, will participate without state symbols – in deference to the fact that Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s independence. There will also be no Kosovo state symbols at the conference.
This formula was agreed in 2012 to enable Kosovo to host or take part in regional meetings without provoking a Serbian boycott or walkout.
Wednesday’s summit was the first time a Serbian delegation had taken part in such an event in the Kosovo capital.
The conference of the “Western Balkans 6” will be dedicated to regional projects, with an emphasis on infrastructure investment.
It follows the Conference of Western Balkan States, which the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel hosted in Berlin last August with the aim of promoting economic cooperation.
Following the Berlin conference, regional ministers pledged to work together on economic issues that trouble the region.
