Antonio Costa to visit Western Balkans, Belgrade and Tivat final stops

European Council President Antonio Costa will travel to the Western Balkans next week to discuss opportunities and challenges regarding enlargement, gradual integration, regional cooperation, security, and stability with regional leaders, and to co-chair the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat, Montenegro, on June 5. “My second Western Balkans tour sends a clear signal: the EU’s commitment to the region is real; as real as the opportunity for enlargement.

The first stop on the Western Balkans tour will be Sarajevo on Monday, June 1. Costa will then visit Tirana on June 2, followed by Skopje, before traveling to Pristina on Wednesday, June 3. Vucic said that he will attend the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat specifically because European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had invited him. “I am going because Ursula von der Leyen invited me, otherwise, I wouldn’t go. I won’t go via Beijing, I’ll decide for myself how to get there. Maybe I’ll go via Trebinje just to spite (opposition leader Dragan) Djilas, then again, maybe I won’t. I am a free man, I choose my own path. I will go to Tivat and wait for all those ‘brave’ people who are taking their frustrations out on my family to explain everything to my face,” Vucic said. On Thursday, June 4, Costa will meet in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, and civil society organizations. That evening, the European Council president will attend a dinner in Tivat hosted by Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic for regional leaders to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the restoration of the country’s independence. On Friday, 5 June, President Costa will co-chair the EU-Western Balkans Summit. The central theme of this summit is ‘Shared prosperity and stability of the EU and the Western Balkans’, the European Council announced.

Key points

• The first stop on the Western Balkans tour will be Sarajevo on Monday, June 1.
• Costa will then visit Tirana on June 2, followed by Skopje, before traveling to Pristina on Wednesday, June 3.
• Vucic said that he will attend the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat specifically because European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had invited him.
• “I am going because Ursula von der Leyen invited me, otherwise, I wouldn’t go.
• I won’t go via Beijing, I’ll decide for myself how to get there.