Belfast, 9 October 2025 – Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Amer Kapetanović, took part in the Berlin Process Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held today in Belfast, hosted by United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper and attended by ministers, senior officials, and partners from across the Western Balkans and Europe.

The meeting, taking place ahead of the Berlin Process Summit of Leaders later this month in London, discussed foreign policy, reconciliation, security, migration, and regional integration.

Speaking at the meeting, RCC Secretary General Kapetanović underlined the organisation’s role in advancing regional cooperation and delivering concrete results under the Common Regional Market and the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

“We gather at a time when the global order faces strain and unpredictability. Yet precisely in such times, regional cooperation becomes our strongest currency. Peace, predictability, and growth are inseparable, one cannot exist without the other,” said Kapetanović.

Ministers participating in the meeting welcomed the tangible results achieved through regional cooperation, highlighting initiatives such as the Common Regional Market as an example of how joint efforts deliver visible benefits to citizens. They also underlined the importance of full implementation of agreed commitments as a way to drive closer cooperation across the Western Balkans and South East Europe.

“The Common Regional Market is not just an economic project, it is a political commitment to build a space of trust, transparency, and shared prosperity. Every step we take towards deeper integration, from ‘Roam Like at Home’ and mutual recognition of professional qualifications to the first SEPA payment between the EU and our region, brings the Western Balkans closer to Europe in a tangible way,” he added.

During the meeting, Kapetanović presented the RCC’s ongoing coordination of key deliverables under the Berlin Process set for London Summit, covering a broad range of transformative areas, from green finance and sustainable investment, financial literacy and taxonomy alignment, to tourism branding and the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans with its revised Action Plan. Together, these initiatives weave economic integration with social justice, green transition, and human mobility, showing that our cooperation touches every dimension of citizens’ lives.

The RCC Secretary General also outlined security cooperation in the region under the RCC umbrella, and stressed the importance of political ownership and timely implementation of agreed commitments, particularly in mobility and mutual recognition agreements.

“Regional cooperation is not only a preparation for EU membership, it is a rehearsal for how we will act once inside the Union,” he concluded.

The Berlin Process Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Belfast sets the stage for the Berlin Process Summit of Leaders, to be held later this month in London, which will focus on advancing regional integration and accelerating the Western Balkans’ European path.