First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić is attending the seventh conference of Southeast European foreign ministers in Berlin.
The conference gathered foreign ministers of the Western Balkan countries, Germany, Italy and Croatia, as well as a Slovenian representative. It addressed the political and other impacts of the refugee crisis on the countries along the Western Balkan refugee route, from Greece to Germany, the issue of cooperation between the Western Balkan countries and the political consequences in changed conditions, the issue of improving economic cooperation, as well as a progress report on the Western Balkan countries which are at different stages of getting closer to EU membership negotiations or are already negotiating. Another topic was the influence of Turkey and Russia in the region in the context of the fight against ISIL and the global terrorist crisis. The ministers also discussed the danger of linking the Paris terrorist attack, regardless of the fact that the perpetrators were born in Europe, with the refuge wave, Pusić said.
She noted it was interesting to hear how the Western Balkan ministers assessed the topics, adding that Kosovo and Serbia discussed the two countries’ progress and their relations in light of the fact that Kosovo had not joined UNESCO.
Pusić said the conference showed that representatives of the EU member states expected much more of our region in these changed circumstances and realized that their security and political situation brought on by the refugee crisis hinges to a large extent on our willingness to cooperate.