Seimas will host a conference on EU integration of the Western Balkans

Press release, 14 September 2022

On Friday, 16 September 2022, the Seimas will host a conference on the integration of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union. Organised on the initiative of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Conference will be attended by Maciej Popowski, Director General of the Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission; Miroslav Lajčák, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and Western Balkans; Pavel Fischer, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic; Jovita Neliupšienė, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania; and politicians and experts from Lithuania, other EU Member States and Western Balkan countries.

‘In the current context, it is crucial to maintain the focus on the Western Balkan region. Russia’s ambitions are not limited to the conquest of Ukraine. It seeks to expand and strengthen its spheres of influence in all directions. Therefore, we must revive and strengthen the process of European integration of the Western Balkans without allowing Russia to benefit from insufficient progress in the field and the ensuing frustration of the Western Balkan citizens,’ said Laima Liucija Andrikienė, the initiator of the Conference, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Head of the Seimas Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the Western Balkan Countries.

‘Since last year, we continue the tradition of organising annual Seimas conferences on EU integration of the Western Balkans. This provides a platform for experts and politicians to discuss the situation in the Western Balkans, the challenges arising in the accession process and the opportunities to improve strategic EU communication with the Western Balkan countries,’ Ms Andrikienė said.

The conference ‘Western Balkan Countries on the Path to the EU – 2022’ will be livestreamed on the Seimas Youtube account ‘Open Seimas.’

PROGRAMME

For more information, please contact:

Eglė Maželė, Adviser, Office of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, tel. +370 5 239 6835, e-mail: [email protected]