Meta.mk republishes the op-ed by Karen Pierce, the UK Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, commenting on the current geopolitical developments affecting the region:
For the United Kingdom, investing in and engaging with the Western Balkans countries, is a geo-strategic imperative in the face of increased global uncertainty and unpredictability. At the same time, our goal is to help the countries of the region complete their Euro-Atlantic integration and bring better, more stable and more prosperous lives for their citizens.
On the 22nd of October, British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, will host Western Balkans Leaders at the Berlin Process Summit in London as part of UK’s year of chairing the European initiative. The Prime Minister and his regional colleagues together with 9 European partners and the EU will advance co-operation on projects across 3 key fields: migration and crime, security and growth. We will be working very closely with regional non-governmental organisations and international financial institutions to deliver results against these pillars.
We want to ensure that 2025 marks the start of a period in which the potential of the region is realised. The 80th and 30th anniversaries of the end of WWII and Srebrenica respectively remind us of the great harms that have befallen people of the region in the past. Legacy issues remain, some profound, as demonstrated by the current crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yet the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN, the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the 30th anniversary of the Dayton/Paris Accords can point us also to the future and remind us of what can be achieved through imagination, tolerance and reconciliation.
As hosts of the Berlin Process, we will draw on the UK’s own history of reconciliation, exploring what good neighbourly relations and inter-community links really look like in practice and sharing our experience of multi-layered identity with our WB partners and friends.
We will also be promoting opportunities to increase economic growth in ways that bolster Euro-Atlantic integration, mindful of the overwhelming desire of citizens of the region to join the EU and in many cases NATO. We will extend links between those representing civil society, youth, and gender, and will celebrate the culture and creative industries of the countries in the region. We will be encouraging participants to identify areas to collaborate and innovate between themselves while finding concrete ways to put into practice the commitments of previous years. For example, for a variety of reasons progress on ID cards and the recognition of higher education qualifications has stalled. We will be looking for creative ways to achieve mutual recognition and facilitate travel across the whole region. We will support the swift implementation of the two agreements on recognition of professional qualifications and the ratification of the agreement on access to higher education and admissions to study. This will deliver a real difference to people across the Western Balkans six.
The UK is re-energising our role in Europe and a vital part of this is strengthening our partnerships in the Western Balkans. A first-ever visit by a British Prime Minister to Albania and visits by the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy to Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina underscore this refreshed approach. The UK has long played a vital role in the region and will continue to do so, supporting stability, security and prosperity while assisting countries to modernise their economies and take their rightful places in a modern Europe. We’re ready to strengthen these partnerships to help complete this important work.
