Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday will attend a European Union – Western Balkans summit meeting in Tirana, Albania, the Presidential Administration reports, according to Agerpres.

The meeting in Tirana is the first event of this kind organised in a Western Balkan capital, which reconfirms the European commitment to the Western Balkan states.

„The high-level meeting will be a new opportunity to reiterate the mutual commitments between the European Union and the Western Balkans to the European integration process, as well as the advancement of political and sectoral co-operation, in the context of managing the consequences of the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine. Also participating in the summit meeting will be officials of international financial institutions,” the Presidential Administration says.

Iohannis will present Romania’s position of supporting the advancement of the European Union enlargement process based on the merits of the candidates.

He will also reiterate Romania’s availability for continued support for the concrete European Union integration efforts and actions of the countries in the region. At the same time, Iohannis will emphasise aspects related to the need to strengthen the resilience of the partners as well as European support in areas such as energy, digital transformation, cyber-security and migration management.

The attending leaders are expected to issue a declaration at the end of the summit reflecting the support of the EU and its member states for the European perspective of the Western Balkans, along with some concerns including those regarding the need for the Western Balkan states to fall in line with EU’s foreign policy.

Agerpres