(Adnkronos) – The stability of the Western Balkans region is “a priority” for the Italy’s government, and is vital for Europe’s security, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Monday ahead of a meeting in Rome of the ‘Friends of the Balkans’ group.
“The stability of the Western Balkans is a priority of the Italian government,” Tajani was cited as saying in a foreign ministry statement.
Tajani underlined the “close connection” between the region’s stability and the whole of Europe, said the statement.
Italy “is at the forefront in ensuring the stability of the region” through its participation in the Nato-led KFOR peacekeeping force EULEX (European Union Rule of Law) mission in Kosovo and the EUFOR Althea mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina mission, said Tajani.
Tajani was set to chair Monday’s ‘Friends of the Balkans’ ministerial meeting held at Villa Madama and attended by Italy, Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, according to the statement.
EULEX Kosovo mission chief Giovanni Barbani, European Investment Bank vice-president Gelsomina Vigliotti and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas are also taking part in the meeting, which will look at how to develop “more structured” EU-Western Balkans security cooperation and ways of “facilitating regional reconciliation paths”, the statement said.
Tajani was due to hold bilateral talks with Kallas on the sidelines of the meeting and with EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos, who is also attending the meeting, the statement added.
The minister’s talks with Kallas and Kos are aimed at accelerating the process of the integration of Western Balkans countries within the EU, where the election of a new parliament in June last year offers a “window of opportunity”, the statement noted.
