Thewesternbalkans.
A forum of heads of state and government from the “Aqaba Process for the Balkans III” was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 4. The forum is being held at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and King Abdullah II of Jordan. Radev welcomed the Jordanian king with an official ceremony in Sofia on Thursday.
The forum was attended by the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović, the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović, the President of Slovenia Natasa Pirc Musar, the President of Albania Bajram Begaj, the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, the President of Croatia Zoran Milanović, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, and the Minister of Interior of Belgium Bernard Quintin. The meeting is attended by representatives of nearly 30 delegations, led by heads of state, representatives of governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and heads of diplomatic missions in the Bulgarian capital.
The President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, paid working visits to Bulgaria on Thursday and Friday. During the visit, President Siljanovska-Davkova held bilateral meetings with the President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, and the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Abdullah II. The Serbian President also held a series of bilateral meetings.
“Today, when security is becoming a daily challenge, it is particularly important for state leaders to be able to exchange views and together seek ways to strengthen it,” the Bulgarian President emphasized. According to him, in a time of sharp deterioration in the security environment, it is particularly important to hear more voices of leaders and experts and to respect their opinions and suggestions. “If this had been done, the fatal counteroffensive for Ukraine, launched in 2023, would not have happened, and a number of leaders in Europe would not have lived with the naive belief that by pouring more funds and weapons into Ukraine, it would achieve significant military successes and be able to negotiate from a position of strength,” said the Bulgarian head of state.
Comment: The “Aqaba Process for the Balkans” is a series of international meetings initiated by HM King Abdullah II in 2015. Their goal is to maintain international and regional coordination and cooperation in the fight against terrorism, extremist ideologies and radicalization through a comprehensive approach.
The “Aqaba Process for the Balkans III” forum is a continuation of previous meetings on the topic, held within the framework of the initiative – in 2016 in Aqaba, Jordan, and in 2018 in Tirana, Albania. The aim of the forum in Sofia is for state leaders from Southeast Europe, together with representatives of governments, institutions and partners of the “Aqaba Process”, to analyze the security architecture of the Balkans, to discuss regional mechanisms for information exchange and to coordinate efforts in the fight against illegal migration, terrorism, radicalization and extremism. In order to encourage open dialogue between the participants in the “Aqaba Process” meetings, the discussions are held in an informal environment, notes a statement from the Presidency of the Republic of Bulgaria.
