The 19th edition of the Annual Balkans Summit 'EU-WESTERN BALKANS - Enlargement, integration and the challenge of transformation', organised by the Friends of Europe (FoE) with support of the European Commission, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung is to take place in Brussels, Belgium on 4 December 2018.  The RCC Secretary General Goran Svilanovic is one of the speakers at this year’s Summit edition. 

The Summit will bring together senior policymakers from the region to share their concerns and ideas with European Union (EU) and member state policymakers. Earlier editions of the Balkans series, also supported by the RCC, have welcomed presidents, prime ministers and ministers, as well as a few hundred key representatives from the EU institutions, member states, business representatives and civil society. The future of the Western Balkans is an issue that is moving swiftly up the European agenda. With economic stagnation, nationalism, populism, organised crime, corruption and external drivers of instability, Balkan economies face strong pressure as they wait to join the EU.