Western Balkans leaders will gather in Vienna on August 26 for their second summit under the auspices of the Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a continuation of the Berlin Process.
According to the official agenda of the Vienna Summit unveiled by Top Channel TV on Friday, the second forum between the Western Balkan nations will kick off on August 26, around 1 p.m. with a panel discussion among integration and foreign ministers of the region due to focus on bilateral disputes between the countries of the Western Balkans.
The discussion will by the signing of a cultural agreement between Austria and Kosovo.
The Summit’s first day will end with a football match between the EU members and the EU aspiring countries, with Albania’s Prime Minister Rama and ministers Ahmetaj and Bushati due to team up with Kosovo’s Hashim Thaçi, Serbia’s Vucic, Macedonia’s Gruevski and Bosnian foreign minister, Igor Crnadak.
The match will be refereed by EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn.
Construction of the Nish-Prishtina-Durres highway will dominate the agenda of talks on the second day of the Vienna Summit, with Albanian PM Edi Rama and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic set to join the discussion along with European Investment Bank (EIB) President Werner Hoyer, EU Commissioner Hahn and the the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Sir Suma Chakrabarti.
On the second day, foreign ministers of the region will also discuss three main issues concerning the regional cooperation, migration and interfaith dialogue, including counter-extremism efforts.
Economy ministers of the region will also gather at a meeting chaired by Austria’s Austria Federal Minister of the Economy, Reinhold Mitterlehner.
In the end, Austrian and German chancellors Faymann and Merkel, together with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and Serbian Prime Minister, Vucic, will appear at a joint news conference.
The first Vienna Economic Forum talks were held in Tirana on May 27-28 with the participation of prime ministers of the Balkan nations.