Brussels, 17 July 2023 (MIA) - The EU's Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, is travelling to Tirana on Monday for a working lunch with Western Balkan leaders, the European Commission said in a press release. 

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Prime Minister Borjana Krišto, Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and Montenegro's Prime Minister Dritan Abazović will participate in the meeting hosted by Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, while it has not yet been confirmed whether Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin kurti will join in, Albanian media outlets report. 

The meeting in Tirana is an informal meeting discussing current developments in the region and preparations for the Berlin Process Summit scheduled to take place in the Albanian capital in October. 

Addressing a session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) last week ahead of today's meeting, Várhelyi said the Europan Commission continues to support the reform process in the candidate countries and neighboring countries for their real transformation.  

He pointed out that one of the main pillars of such transformation are the ambitious economic and investment plans, noting that the European Union has a plan for investments of EUR 30 billion in the Western Balkans. 

"These economic and investment plans are already giving visible results in reducing the socio-economic gap between our regions and our partners, bringing them closer to the EU," said Várhelyi. 

He mentioned that recently European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new 4-pillar growth plan for the region with an aim to bring Western Balkans closer to the EU.

Photo: MIA archive