The Berlin conference for Balkan

On August 28th, the leaders of former Yugoslav countries, of Kosovo and of Albania will meet in Berlin with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Böttger considers this a very wise step.

“The current situation with the integration of the regional countries into the EU has shown small steps of frequent success. The entire process is more difficult and takes longer, compared to the integration of the eastern countries that have become members. In this more difficult process, Germany is seen as the one that raises the finger with the warning. This is a good moment to show that Germany, despite being persistent and places conditions, such as with Serbia for Kosovo before opening the negotiations, it doesn’t put in question the European perspective of integration in these countries, but supports it”, said Katrin Böttge at the Institution of European Policies.

Böttger said for DW that this conference is also an evaluation for what Balkan has achieved so far. On the other hand, the meeting might be considered as a sign of the importance of the region for Europe, and the fact that it doesn’t get lost in the political agenda, despite the conflicts that attract the attention of the EU, such as Ukraine, Palestine, Syria and Iraq.

As for the news published by “Der Spiegel” about the spying in Albania by the German Secret Service, BND, Böttger explains that what the press has considered as spying is in fact a normal information collection for the respective countries, which is the basic duty of every secret service.

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