Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic
09/24/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/25/2025 00:44
Italy convenes Western Balkans countries. Tajani: “In the EU to strengthen all of Europe”
As part of the High-Level Week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani promoted and chaired a new meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkans and the "Friends of the Western Balkans" group. The event was attended by ministers and representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, as well as Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia and Slovenia. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, also took part.
The meeting reaffirmed Italy's longstanding commitment to simplifying and accelerating the EU enlargement process towards the Western Balkans.
"European integration is an incomplete project without the 'reunification' of the Western Balkans with the European family. The Italian Government places the highest priority on the Western Balkans. I have reiterated on several occasions that their European integration process is the most important strategic investment for the Union," said Minister Tajani.
"These are countries that are close partners of Italy, with whom we share a historic friendship and a spirit of cooperation and mutual trust. That is why I confirmed that the Western Balkan countries can continue to count on us, and on a group of partners committed to supporting their European perspectives and their goals of stability and prosperity," continued the Minister.
"Their accession to the EU will strengthen Europe as a whole. We discussed ways to make progress on implementing reforms, including how to seize the opportunities offered by the EU Growth Plan for the Balkans, and to demonstrate to the citizens of candidate countries the tangible benefits of belonging to the Union's single market. Greater socio-economic convergence and the integration of our markets will mean more growth for everyone: their accession will create even more opportunities for our businesses," Tajani concluded.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic published this content on September 24, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 25, 2025 at 06:44 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]