Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman attended on Thursday a meeting of the foreign ministers of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) member states.
The meeting focused on the current situation in Southeast Europe. The ministers greenlighted the 2020-2021 Annual Report of the RCC General Secretariat and adopted the SEE 2030 Strategy and the Antalya Declaration, as well as the Turkish chairmanship’s final document.
Grlić Radman underscored the importance of SEECP for a wide range of regional political and economic cooperation, as well as the RCC’s role in drafting the framework for Southeast Europe’s post-pandemic recovery. “SEECP is committed to transforming this region into an area of peace, security, stability and cooperation. It is therefore important to continue promoting regional cooperation with the participating countries and other reliable partners,” he said.
Underlining the importance of solidarity with the countries in the southeastern neighbourhood, the minister said that Croatia was among the first EU member states to use the EU vaccine exchange mechanism. “In times of crisis, it is necessary to show solidarity with those in need and that’s exactly what Croatia is doing,” he said, referring to Croatia’s vaccine donations to Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia in the joint fight against pandemic.
In the context of the European integration, Grlić Radman underscored strong support for the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, the holding of intergovernmental conferences with Montenegro and Serbia and the liberalisation of the visa regime with Kosovo. In addition, he stressed the need for Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement key reforms in order to obtain EU membership candidate status. “It is in our interest to see a successful, functioning and integrated Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is why this non-election year should be used to tackle the most important issues, such as electoral law reform to confirm the constitutional principle of equality of the three constituent peoples and all other citizens,” the minister explained.
The meeting of SEECP foreign ministers took place as part of the SEECP Summit, the closing event of the Turkish SEECP chairmanship. In 2021-2022, the chairmanship will be taken over by Greece.