The South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) is a major political format for cooperation in the region, a factor of security and stability with a focus on the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries of the Western Balkans.

The initiative was launched at the Sofia meeting of the foreign ministers of the Southeast European countries in July 1996. This is the third time Bulgaria is chairing the SEECP; this time its efforts are focused on three key areas of interaction - connectivity in transport, energy and infrastructure, freedom of expression and media freedom and migration and tackling the refugee flow.

The second informal meeting of foreign ministers of the countries taking part in the process took place within the Bulgarian chairmanship-in-office of the organization. The participants issued a joint statement for tackling the challenges the migration crisis poses. During the press conference with the participation of the so-called Troika (the “Troika” consisting of the previous, current and next chair-in-office of the SEECP), Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov stated that the migration problem was a problem affecting everyone and that no country could resolve it by itself.

“The EU should think of itself as a union, instead of separate member states trying to take decisions unilaterally and coping in a way dictated by a given national interest and not by the interest of the community."

The joint statement which will be submitted at the forthcoming informal EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Amsterdam, lays emphasis on stricter control of the EU’s external borders, Minister Mitov added.

“The distinction between refugees and economic migrants should be very clear and there should be a dialogue with the countries the illegal migrants come from, so as to negotiate the effective readmission of people who have entered the EU illegally. This concerns our partners from the South-East European Cooperation Process because this is a problem we are all in, together.”

The meeting brought together seven foreign ministers, as well as deputy ministers of foreign affairs from the SEECP, the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council Goran Svilanovic, representatives of the European Commission.

“Emphasis was laid on how important it is to continue the process of integration and on reforms in the EU membership candidate countries,” Minister Daniel Mitov said. “They received unanimous support for the reforms they have launched and for the efforts they have been making towards adapting to membership of the EU. Connectivity in the region was another one of the major spheres of discussion – not just in transport and infrastructure but in energy as well. The poor infrastructure and energy connectivity is a major problem, at this time it is making the region less attractive for investments and is putting a spoke in the wheels of communication among individuals and businesses. The European Commission supports this process politically and financially and we are determined to support this priority.”

Ditmir Bushati, Foreign Minister of Albania, the previous chair of the SEECP also stressed the importance of joint action and solidarity in tackling the consequences of the migration crisis and in combatting extremism and terrorism.

Croatia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Zeljko Kupresak, whose country will take over the chair of the South-East European Cooperation Process from Bulgaria, highlighted the top priorities of the Croatian chairmanship-in-office:

English version: Milena Daynova