Security, the Western Balkans and the UK: working together to address shared challenges (WP1524)

The UK will soon launch the Western Balkans Security Discourse. This initiative brought together senior officials, practitioners and experts from the Western Balkans and the UK to discuss our shared security challenges. The Discourse will foster professional respect, mutual understanding and information-sharing, and demonstrate the increase in UK engagement in the region.

The UK will also host the 2018 Western Balkans Summit as part of the Berlin Process, which brings together heads of government and ministers, professionals and civil society from the Western Balkans, specific European partners and EU institutions. The UK intends to make significant political progress on security and justice sector issues at the Summit, the agenda for which will be informed by the conclusions of this meeting.

Discussion was framed around three key aims:

• Develop a shared understanding of key security and rule of law challenges.
• Identify new approaches to tackling these challenges.
• Improve collaborative working amongst the Western Balkans Six, the UK and also with key international partners.