FM Kovač attends preparatory meeting for Brdo-Brijuni Process summit

(Hina) - France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and European Affairs Minister Harlem Desir held in Paris on Tuesday a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Brdo-Brijuni Process

(Hina) - France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and European Affairs Minister Harlem Desir held in Paris on Tuesday a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, as part of preparations for a summit of the leaders of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, to be held on July 4.

"With the support of our Slovenian, Croatian, Austrian and German partners and Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn we have been working on improving cooperation in the Western Balkans. This is part of the Brdo-Brijuni Process and the Berlin Process," Ayrault said.

The French foreign minister invited to the Paris meeting the foreign ministers of six Southeast European countries - Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, and of the EU countries Croatia, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy, as well as Commissioner Hahn.

Ayrault held several bilateral meetings with some of the participating ministers, including his Croatian counterpart Miro Kovač.

Ayrault said the purpose of the ministerial meeting was to prepare for a summit of countries participating in those processes, to be held in Paris on July 4, at the proposal of French President Francois Hollande.

He said the summit would focus on energy and transport, on linking energy and transport systems, and on young people.

The summit will also deal with common challenges, such as the consequences of the war in Syria and the mass influx of refugees, which require a joint response.

The French minister reiterated that all Southeast European countries had the prospect of joining the EU and that each progressed on that path at its own pace.

The Brdo-Brijuni Process was launched in 2013 to promote regional cooperation, settlement of outstanding issues and further stabilisation of Europe's south-east through reforms and integration with the EU.

The Berlin Process, launched in 2014 in Berlin, has a similar purpose. The second meeting of the Berlin Process was held in Vienna in August 2015 and this year's summit will take place in Paris. A total of five summits of this kind are expected to be held by 2018.

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