Vienna based daily Der Standard argues that the goal of the upcoming regional conference in Berlin on the Western Balkans is to "bury" a plan on the exchange of territory, the portal B92 reports.

"The Chancellor intends to suggest that North of Kosovo receive a special status - this is also based and in the idea of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, which formation was agreed by the Brussels Agreement, but it has not been applied so far," reported Standard.

Op-ed by Florian Bieber, professor at the University of Graz and coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). Bieber will be a speaker on the event “Beyond Berlin: What Does the Next Decade Hold for the Western Balkans?”, organized by Chatham House, European Fund for the Balkans and DG Near in London on 10 July.

See more at: https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2018/07/10/time-ditch-berlin-process/

Aleksandar Vucic has told Angela Merkel he believes the Regional Economic Zone and the Nis-Pristina highway is of great importance to the Western Balkans.

The Serbian president Vucic asked the German chancellor Merkel to use her reputation and authority to speed up the realization of these two projects, Tanjug reported.

"The 'Berlin Process' is very helpful. I am extremely grateful to German Chancellor Angela Merkel because she has created it. Otherwise nothing would have moved. Now some things are progressing and it depends much on the region for the things to move forward," says the former Vice-Chancellor of Austria, Erhard Busek.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini in an interview to the European Western Balkans Portal spoke about the topics such as “Berlin Process,” new phase in a dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Bosnia and Hercegovina application for the EU membership and important reforms in the Western Balkans.

European Commissioner For Regional Policy & Enlargement Johannes Hahn told CorD that the pace of negotiations depends on the progress countries make in implementing the necessary reforms.

-Quality goes before speed, but I always say that it is good to be ambitious. The Berlin Process serves to drive that reform programme forward, always with a view to strengthening each country’s preparations to meet their European Integration ambitions, said Hahn to CorD Magazine, published monthly in Belgrade.

Relations between Serbia and Albania "are going in the right direction."
This is what Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic and Albanian Ambassador to Serbia Ilir Bocka said when they met in Belgrade on Monday.

The two officials said this was evidenced by the upcoming activities of the two governments, which will contribute to the overall stability in the region, the Serbian government said on its website.