Belfast (United Kingdom), Oct 9 (EFE).- The British Foreign Minister, Yvette Cooper, highlighted this Thursday the progress made in the Balkans since the signing of the Dayton Accords 30 years ago, which put an end to the war in the former Yugoslavia, while warning about the new challenges facing the region.
The head of diplomacy of the United Kingdom made these statements at the beginning today of a meeting of the so-called ‘Berlin Process’, attended by foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) and the six nations of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo).
This summit, held at Hillsborough Castle, on the outskirts of Belfast (Northern Ireland), seeks to consolidate, Cooper said, the progress achieved during the past three decades in the Western Balkans and address regional security, the fight against irregular immigration and economic and political cooperation in the region for the future.
“We know that this support guarantees the security of all of Europe and our security here in the United Kingdom,” said the British minister after welcoming her colleagues to this historic Northern Irish palace.
“Hillsborough Castle is a symbol of peace, progress and reconciliation,” Cooper concluded, referring to a key place in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday peace agreement (1998), the text that ended the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Before the start of this summit, London already announced that it will allocate 4 million pounds (4.6 million euros) to reinforce the “cyber defenses” of the Western Balkans in the face of Russia’s “constant” interference in the region.
The British Government stressed the importance of strengthening its “resilience” to combat the “constant flow of Russian hybrid threats aimed at destabilizing the region and stoking ethnic tensions.”
Likewise, he advocated joining efforts to address migrant trafficking at this meeting, where he will present an investment of 10 million pounds (11.5 million euros) to develop programs to combat illegal migration.
In addition to the foreign ministers of the Western Balkans, the heads of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Slovenia, as well as Denmark as rotating president of the EU, also participate in this summit.
The United Kingdom holds the presidency of the Berlin Process and, after the Belfast meeting, another meeting of the leaders of the countries that comprise it is scheduled to take place in London on October 22. EFE
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