A summit between the European Union and Western Balkan leaders will take place on Wednesday (6 October), in Brdo pri Kranju. EU leaders, and the leaders of the six partners of the Western Balkans will participate in the summit. These are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and Kosovo.
The summit will discuss the 'mutual strategic interests' as well as current EU investment initiatives towards the region. The European Union has earmarked thirty billion euros for investment in the Balkans over the next seven years. Nine billion of this will be in the form of grants and 20 billion in the form of guaranteed loans. The aim is to boost growth in the Western Balkans, which the European Council believes will also benefit the EU as a whole.
The summit is part of the European Council's strategic agenda 2019-2024 and is a priority of the Slovenian presidency of the EU. EU leaders will issue a joint declaration at the end of the summit and invite the heads of government of the Western Balkan countries concerned to join them.
