Kosovo President Hashim Thaci says in an interview with the Vienna daily Presse that the ''case'' of Marko Djuric was unnecessary and that something like this should not be repeated, and that he agreed with the President of Serbia about necessity of the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, reports Belgrade based daily Blic.

- Djuric's case was unnecessary. It was the provocation of the Serbian authorities - claims Thaci.

The EU-Balkan Summit in Sofia, conceived as Thessaloniki 2, is very disappointing because there has been no reaffirmation of the prospects of Balkan countries' membership in the EU, says Toby Vogel, a researcher of the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) for Radio Free Europe, daily Blic reports.

The European Union today welcomed the commitment of the Western Balkans to shared European values, including democracy and the rule of law and reaffirmed its unequivocal support for the region’s European perspective.

Agreement on Serbia’s accession to the European Union by 2025 could be reached, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani is quoted as saying on Thursday at the EU – Western Balkans Summit in Sofia.

A press release from the Serbian president’s cabinet said that Tajani told President Aleksandar Vucic that the date set for possible accession in the EU Strategy for the Western Balkans is possible.

“I am optimistic about your membership,” Tajani is quoted as saying.

EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia is a signal and a message there is a perspective for the Western Balkans, Centre of Foreign Policy Director Aleksandra Joksimovic told RTS.

Speaking for the RTS news edition, Joksimovic said the EU went through number of crisis and was focused on its internal affairs. She added a period of EU consolidation is expected, however, the EU realized it has to bring its focus back to the Western Balkans region.

We are ahead of a summit during which EU leaders will discuss innovation, European future for Western Balkans, and the response to President Trump's policies on trade and Iran.

See at: https://eu2018bg.bg/en/news/1062

Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy will definitely not participate in the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, due to his country's position on Kosovo.

Spain does not recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo.

"It was clear from the beginning that Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy does not want to attend due to Spain's position on Kosovo's status," Tanjug reported on Tuesday, citing a senior EU official.

A lower ranked diplomatic officials will still represent Spain at the summit, it has been announced in Brussels.

The forthcoming European Union Summit on Western Balkans in Sofia will be an incentive to linkage and enlargement, but the potential candidate countries still face a number of obstacles, a conference in Belgrade has been told on Monday.

The issue of enlargement was back on the EU’s agenda thanks to the Bulgarian presidency over the block, the country’s envoy to Belgrade Radko Vlajkov told the “EU Summit – Western Balkans: Where is the enlargement there?” conference.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told TV Pink, that Kosovo issue is the most important topic and government reconstruction can wait.

She added the reconstruction of the government was a topic some time ago, however serious things occurred in Kosovo and Metohija, thus it became “obvious that our unity is a priority and support to the President Vucic to find a solution in normalization of relations with Pristina. That is why reconstruction became of secondary importance,” Brnabic stated.

Bulgarian newspaper 24 Chasa is reporting that Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy will attend an informal meeting of the European Council on May 16 in Sofia.

However, it is not yet certain whether Rajoy will also participate in the EU-Western Balkans summit on May 17, BTA agency quoted the daily.

The report also stated that "Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus, which, like Spain, do not recognize Kosovo, will participate in the summit."