At the start of the EU-Western Balkans summit in London on Monday, Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejcinovic-Buric on Monday said that she expects the two-day meeting to be a step forward concerning the issues essential for the future of southeast Europe.

The London summit is being held as part of the Berlin process, an initiative launched in 2014 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in an effort to encourage six Western Balkan countries to continue implementing reforms in order to join EU.

“The Berlin process is above all a process for closer cooperation of Southeast European countries – six Western Balkan countries – and European Union countries, including Croatia, so that we can assist in a faster European and Euro-Atlantic integration of our neighbouring countries,” Pejcinovic-Buric said.

The ministers are expected to discuss “issues that are important for the future of the region, above all including young people in that future through interconnectivity, through economic cooperation,” she said.

“We will discuss regional cooperation in the search for the missing, investigating war crimes, and other issues that burden relations in this region. We believe that today we will take another step (forward),” she added.

The two-day London summit is the fifth summit of EU leaders, representatives of EU institutions and senior officials from the countries of Southeast Europe aspiring to join the European Union.

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