Ministers, experts, representatives of businesses and institutions (including EU institutions) met in Jasionka, near Rzeszów, during the latest edition of the Forum of Cities and Regions. A wide range of panels and discussions took place on 4 and 5 June, with the main aim of addressing the issue of how to bring the Western Balkans closer to the European Union.

At the start of the forum, Polish Minister Jerzy Kwieciński said that Poland was well aware of the challenges facing Western Balkan partners as it had also been down the long and difficult path to becoming an EU Member State. 

Władysław Ortyl – the regional host, Marshal of the Podkarpackie region and Member of the Bureau of the ECR Group at the European Committee of the Regions – recalled Polish experiences from the pre-accession period and making use of EU aid at this time.

The Forum of Cities and Regions taking place in the Podkarpackie region is connected with Poland taking over the leadership of the Berlin Process. This is an initiative of several EU countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and Italy) which want to bring the EU and the countries of the Balkans closer together. Therefore, the event focused on the issue of bringing the Western Balkans, i.e. Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo closer to the structures of the European Union.

Guests discussed such issues as business and political cooperation, investments linking the EU with the Balkans, the Via Carpathia route, support for Balkan countries in the integration process and post-2020 cooperation programmes.