Tirana is "boiling": Rama, Zelensky, Plenković, Sandu, Vučić...

The first Ukraine - Southeast Europe summit is being held in Tirana today, in which the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, will participate.

Tirana is "boiling": Rama, Zelensky, Plenković, Sandu, Vučić...

The first Ukraine - Southeast Europe summit is being held in Tirana today, in which the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, will participate.

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Tanjug/AP Photo/Armando Babani

In the capital of Albania, on the occasion of the summit, Ukrainian flags were hung on the central streets, and the sign "Ukraine-Southeastern Europe Summit" was placed on the plateau of the Congress Palace itself.

As Tanjug learns, the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, the president of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, the prime minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, the president of North Macedonia, Steve Pendarovski, the president of the temporary institutions in Pristina, Vjose Osmani, and the president of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto, are also expected to attend the summit.

The official reception will begin today at 11 a.m. in the Congress Palace, and the summit will be hosted by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama.

At the invitation of Rama, the presence of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is expected, and this will be his first visit to Albania. The war in Ukraine and its consequences are expected to be discussed.

The summit is being held under high security measures, and more than 1,600 members of the police force will be engaged in maintaining order and security of the gathering. Tomorrow, the Regional Summit on the Growth and Convergence Plan is being held in the Congress Palace, where the European integration of the region and the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans will be discussed.

It is planned to hold two plenary sessions, which are dedicated to the gradual introduction of the single market and the implementation of the Growth Plan.

The European Union Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Oliver Varhelyi will also attend the summit. The growth plan for the Western Balkans envisages financial support of six billion euros, of which two billion are non-reimbursable grants, and four billion are soft loans given by the EU, with the aim of stimulating the economic growth of the region and speeding up socio-economic harmonization.

The plan covers the period from 2024 to 2027 and foresees that each government of the Western Balkans Six will receive a certain amount of money every six months, depending on the reforms it implemented during that period.

The leaders of the Western Balkans discussed the Growth Plan with EU and US officials in Skopje in January, when the "Western Balkans and the EU" meeting was held.