SOUTH-EAST EUROPEAN LEADERS SAY THEY WILL COORDINATE EFFORTS TO TACKLE MIGRATION CRISIS

The Participants in the Summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) met in Sofia on 1st of June 2016. The forum is under the motto “SEECP – A Key to Regional Cooperation over the Past 20 Years”.

The summit was attended by state and government leaders and foreign ministers of the 13 SEECP member states. The Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Lamberto Zannier and Goran Svilanovic of the OSCE Regional Cooperation Council, as well as a representative of the European Commission also attended the event.

The forum marks the conclusion of Bulgaria’s one-year-term as rotating chair of the South-East European Cooperation Process and handing over the chairmanship to Croatia.

After the meeting, the representatives of the so called SEECP Troika - the current, preceding, and subsequent Chairs – Albania, Bulgaria and Croatia gave a joint press conference.

All participants unanimously adopted the jubilee declaration on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of SEECP, pointing the future challenges for the region.

Bulgaria’s President said that the European project will not be complete without the complete integration of the countries from the Western Balkans.

The SEECP members are aware that each country alone would not be able to deal with the challenges of migration crisis, he said. The SEECP countries have agreed to coordinate their efforts and exchange information in relation to the migrant crisis, to treat asylum seekers humanely, but also to be uncompromising in the fight against human trafficking networks, President Plevneliev said.

Building a modern regional infrastructure and connectivity were described as a strategic priority for the development of South-East Europe, he noted. Plevneliev recalled that the EU plans to invest almost 50 billion euro in the region in the next 4 years and underlined that these resources should be used responsibly.

As regards energy security, he said it was important that the SEECP member states work to integrate their energy markets and build a modern regional infrastructure. “Bulgaria is one of the engines behind the establishment of a common regional energy market, Plevneliev added.

Albania’s President Bujar Nishani noted that SEEPC achieved a lot in the past 20 years. “We made huge efforts to achieve our strategic goals, to enlarge the NATO and EU borders in our region," Nishani said, adding that stronger ties of sincere friendship and cooperation have been established. “Connectivity in the area of energy, transport and infrastructure remain main priorities”, he remarked.

Croatia takes over the one-year chairmanship of SEECP from Bulgaria. The Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovac outlined science and education, energy and crisis response as three priorities of his country's upcoming chairmanship.

SEECP was established 20 years ago on Bulgaria's initiative. It now has 13 member states with 150 million population.