TIRANA, Nov. 7 – In the context of the next meeting of the Berlin Process, scheduled to take place in the UK in 2018, British State Minister for Europe Alan Duncan visited Tirana and Albanian homologue Ditmir Bushati.
Despite the UK exiting the European Union, Duncan expressed that having the UK host the Berlin Process is a sign of the attention and interest the UK still shows towards the Balkan region. In addition, the two ministers discussed the further strengthening of relations between the two countries.
“We expect the Berlin Process to focus on support for the European integration of the Western Balkans countries through strengthening of infrastructure and economic links between the region and the European Union,” said Albanian Foreign Minister Bushati said after the meeting.
The Berlin Process, held for the first time in Berlin, in 2014, by Chancellor Angela Merkel, aimed at reassuring Western Balkan countries’ of their EU perspective, despite the European Union’s decision to not grant accession to any states for the following five years.
Formerly hosted in Berlin, Vienna, Paris and Trieste, the Process also aims at improving regional cooperation in the Western Balkans on the issues of infrastructural and economic development.
