00:00This footage shows the Western Bulgarian leaders gathering for the Berlin Process Summit in Germany's capital in October 2024.
00:08This year's Berlin Process Summit is hosted by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on October 22nd.
00:16But what is the Berlin Process?
00:19In August 2014, the Berlin Process Platform was set up in the German capital,
00:24with the aim of improving not only regional cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans,
00:30Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia,
00:36but also their cooperation with the European Union.
00:39At the time, Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany.
00:43High-ranking representatives of all six Western Balkan countries attended the first Berlin Process Summit in 2014.
00:50Since then, the Berlin Process Summit has been held once a year in different European cities.
00:57The aim is to pave the way for these six countries to join the EU,
01:01through economic development, social inclusion, security, meetings and agreements.
01:07The Berlin Process has brought forward some key initiatives when it comes to regional cooperation
01:12in the so-called Western Balkan countries.
01:16And their annual summits bring together a wide range of actors,
01:19from governments to civil society, business sector, parliaments.
01:23But at the same time, these initiatives cannot make up for a lack of political will for reforms,
01:28as well as a lack of willingness to foster the enlargement process to a meaningful degree on the EU level.
01:35So, how much progress has actually been made over the past decade?
01:40Some Western Balkan countries now recognise educational qualifications obtained in other Western Balkan countries.
01:48Others don't.
01:50The processing of some goods has been accelerated at the border between some Western Balkan countries, but not others.
01:57The Central European Free Trade Agreement, or CEFTA,
02:01which covers the six Western Balkan countries and Moldova,
02:04has not yet been fully implemented.
02:06Critics say that the Berlin Process has stalled because of dysfunctional bilateral relations.
02:14One of the main topics at this year's summit in London
02:17is the cooperation on combating irregular migration along key transit routes in the Balkans.
02:23But in the run-up to the summit, several adjacent events took place,
02:28including forums on business, civil society, youth engagement and gender equality.
02:36The
Comments