Summit of South-East European Initiative begins in Zagreb

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Vasilica Viorica Dancila. (Photo: Patrik Macek/PIXSELL)

Croatia is hosting a two day summit of the South-East European Initiative. Sic European Prime Ministers arrived in Zagreb today along with the European Commissioner for Enlargement Johanes Hahn, the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti and other high ranking officials.

Politics Branko LozančićDec. 3, 2018, 4:20 p.m.

The summit is being held at the end of Croatia’s chairmanship of the initiative.

The majority of attention at the summit will be drawn by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who arrived for his first official visit to Croatia in seven years. He met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and is expected to meet with Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

Prime Minister Plenković will be hosting a dinner tonight for all participants at the Esplanade Hotel.

“The day summit of the South-East European Initiative is the peak of Croatia’s diplomatic efforts this year,” said Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejčinović Burić in a statement for Croatian Radio Television last night. “The stay of the Albanian delegation will be used to sign a statement on strategic partnership with that country,” added the minister.

The the South-East European Initiative was formed 30 years ago to assist countries in the region in joining the EU and of today’s 18 member countries, 10 are members of the EU, five countries are on that path and three are members of the Eastern Partnership. It was founded in 1989 in Budapest and today’s members are Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Source: HRT