Relations with the Western Balkans is of the utmost importance to Europe

"With the radical change of the geopolitical situation in Europe, this boost in EU relations with the Western Balkans is of the utmost importance", claimed Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa following the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana, Albania.

António Costa added that "this summit has a very important symbolic value: it’s being held in a Western Balkan state for the first time; it’s a way of acknowledging the efforts made, namely Albania, to confirm the European perspectives in the Western Balkans".

The Western Balkans include Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo, of which Kosovo is the only state that did not apply to join the European Union.

The Prime Minister said that "the perspective of enlargement is a difficult process, which also implies deep reforms to the institutions and budgetary framework within the European Union". 

However, "in addition to the issue of enlargement, there are a series of concrete projects that can and should be implemented immediately", pointing towards "a highly significant investment plan" of 30 million euros, allocating one-billion-euro emergency aid so these states can face the energy crisis, their inclusion in joint gas procurement and developing projects such as Erasmus+, and the European telecommunications roaming scheme to enter into force in 2023.

The summit approved a "very clear" joint declaration "of absolute condemnation" of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he said, adding that "most of these countries applied the same sanctions package to Russia as the European Union".

At the summit, the EU and Balkan states’ Heads of State and Government also discussed the plan put forward by the European Commission to strengthen cooperation in migration, which identifies 20 operational measures to improve border management.

António Costa claims that this "is a very important" issue, since the migration route from the Western Balkans "is a core issue for various central European countries", despite not affecting Portugal directly.