27 August 2018 - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's office says Albania is hosting an informal meeting of the six heads of government in the Western Balkans.
Rama's office said Sunday that the topic of Monday's meeting is "regional economic integration" and will include discussions about developing a joint vision for aligning with the European Union, the implementation of a regional economic zone and other issues.
Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia are at different stages in the process of joining the EU.
The meeting will be held in the western port city of Durres, where a similar meeting was held last year.
According to the official report from the Government of Montenegro, Prime Minister Duško Marković is taking part in the informal meeting of the Prime Ministers of the Western Balkans Six in Durres.
European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn and President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti are also attending the meeting with the goal of discussing economic cooperation in the region.
As stated on the official Twitter profile of the Government, Marković made a statement during the summit, saying that "we must do everything to keep young people in the Western Balkans".
As he added, Montenegro strongly stands behind its initiative to establish the International Institute for Sustainable Technologies, because it can be precious for the whole region, for young people and new jobs.
“Montenegro welcomes the agreement between Macedonia and Greece and strongly supports the dialogue between Priština and Belgrade, but our focus today must include economic issues and obligations. We should go in the direction of establishing a guarantee fund as proposed by the European Union and start activities to support start-up businesses to easier finance small and medium-sized enterprises. We must do everything to keep young people in the Western Balkans. Montenegro is vigorously standing behind its initiative to establish the International Institute for Sustainable Technologies in the South-eastern Europe because it can be precious for the entire region, for young people and new jobs,” Marković stated.
