LONDON: Leaders of six Western Balkan nations are due to meet British and European officials in London on Wednesday for talks on migration, security and economic growth in a volatile region where Russia seeks to wield influence.
Delegations from Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia are attending a summit held as part of the Berlin Process, launched in 2014 to keep the southeastern European countries working toward European Union membership.
The only Western Balkan nation to join the EU is Croatia, which became a member in 2013. Progress for the others has stalled, with countries at various stages of the journey, and in recent years tensions have flared between Serbia and Kosovo, a former Serbian province whose independence is not recognized by Belgrade.
The EU’s openness to accept new members has grown since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There are concerns the war in Ukraine and Russia’s deepening confrontation with the West could spill over into a region still scarred by its own conflicts.
The UK is hosting the annual summit despite leaving the EU in 2020. It is also being attended by representatives of several European countries and the EU.
