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Along with officials from 27 EU member states, participation in the meeting was confirmed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sefik Dzaferovic, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic , Macedonian Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski and the President of the Pristine Provisional Institutions, Hashim Thaci, HINA reported.
Rules have been established according to which videoconference participants will sit in front of a neutral background, there will be no state symbols, flags, coats of arms, not even the names of the countries on the screen behind them, only the name and the last name of the person speaking.
Citing diplomatic sources, Hina writes that the rule was introduced at the request of Spain, which does not want to participate in meetings in which Kosovo is mentioned as a state.
For the same reason, the text of the declaration nowhere mentions the names of the countries of the Western Balkans, nor does it use the term states, but speaks of “partners in the Western Balkans”.
The videoconference will also be attended by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the President of the European Parliament, David Sacholi, representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Council of Regional cooperation.
Following the meeting, a joint press conference is planned for Michel, Commission President Ursula von der Layen, and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, on behalf of Croatia, as President of the Council of the EU.
Participants will accept the Zagreb Declaration, which will confirm the European perspective of the countries of the Western Balkans.
“The European Union once again reaffirms its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans. The Western Balkans partners have reiterated their commitment to the European perspective, as their firm strategic option,” said the draft Zagreb Declaration .
More specifically, there is nothing in the text on enlargement, and several EU officials said at the meeting that enlargement is not an issue, but an EU assistance package.
Several countries, by the way, are quite skeptical about further enlargement, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, France and, to some extent, Germany, according to HINA.
Given such circumstances, the draft agreed text of the Zagreb Declaration is the most that could be agreed at this time, according to a diplomatic source, the agency reports.
(Kurir.rs/Tanjug)
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