Speech by RCC Secretary General at Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP)

16 June 2025 | SPEECH

RCC Secretary General Amer Kapetanović addressed the meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), held in Tirana, Albania on 16 June 2025.

Speaking on the theme “Boosting Regional Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth as Pathways to EU Integration”, Kapetanović emphasised that the EU’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans makes competitiveness and inclusivity prerequisites for integration into the EU Single Market, with the Common Regional Market at its core. He underlined that “growth that leaves people behind is neither sustainable nor legitimate,” stressing that inclusivity must be economic, social, and political. Presenting RCC’s new three-year Strategy and Work Programme under the imperative “Building resilience through transformation”, he outlined three strategic pillars: the SEE2030 Strategy, the Common Regional Market, and the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, supported by transformations in smart development, skilled societies, and sustainable futures. Kapetanović concluded by noting that anniversaries marking 30 years of SEECP and 18 years of RCC should serve not just as commemoration but as an opportunity to recalibrate regional cooperation, reminding participants that “the RCC is only as effective as the political will and ownership behind it”

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