Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia summit in Thessaloniki to discuss regional developments




The 4th quadrilateral meeting of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia to be held on Wednesday afternoon in Thessaloniki will focus on regional developments such as the European perspective of the Western Balkans, security issues, refugee and migration and coordination ahead of the 16 + 1 Summit (China + Eastern European and Balkan countries) and the Berlin conference.

They are also expected to discuss projects related to infrastructure, transport and energy.

The 16 + 1 Summit will be held in Sofia on July 7 and the Berlin conference will be held in London on July 10.

The current quadrilateral meeting follows those of Varna, Belgrade and Bucharest as the quadrilateral collaboration of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia is establishing a critical diplomatic framework for cooperation in the Balkans that promotes peace, stability, security, co-development and respect for international law.

In this context, Thessaloniki’s role as a diplomatic and economic centre in the wider region is increasingly being upgraded.

Also, the coordination between the Balkan countries is becoming more and more important, following the momentum of positive recent developments in the region, such as:

-The Prespes agreement on the FYROM name issue

-The European Union-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia

-The decision to open the accession process for FYROM and Albania in 2019 and the Bulgaria-FYROM agreement

-The promotion of major transport projects, infrastructure and energy in the Balkans (eg the Greece-Bulgaria signed agreements, with EU support, for a natural gas pipeline and a railway connecting Thessaloniki and Varna).

The prime ministers of Greece Alexis Tsipras, Bulgaria Boiko Borisov, Romania Viorica Dancila and the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic will participate in the meeting to be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Apart from the meeting of the leaders of the four countries, a meeting of the Ministers of Infrastructure and Transport will also take place.

The program of the summit is as follows:

18:00-18:55 Quartet meeting of leaders

(Concurrently, a meeting of the Ministers of Infrastructure and Transport of the four countries)

19:00 Plenary of the Quartet and work dinner

The meetings will conclude with a joint press conference by state leaders from 20:15 to 21:00.

Source: AMNA

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