Cooper affirms UK’s commitment to stability in Western Balkans at summit

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has affirmed the UK’s commitment to stability in the Western Balkans at a high-level summit in Northern Ireland.

She welcomed foreign ministers from across the region, including North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo, as well as European allies such as France, Austria, Greece and Italy, to Hillsborough Castle on Thursday morning.

At the outset of the talks, Ms Cooper and German foreign minister Johann Wadephul both welcomed the overnight news regarding the first phase of a peace plan in Gaza.

Gathered together inside the castle, Ms Cooper hailed the venue as a symbol of peace and progress and reconciliation following Northern Ireland’s historic peace process in the late 1990s.

She told those gathered that the UK has a “long and enduring commitment to stability, security and prosperity in the Western Balkans”.

“We know that security in the Western Balkans affects the security of the whole of Europe and the security for us here in the UK,” she said.

“And it’s a real honour to be leading the Berlin process foreign ministers meeting this year and to be able to host this here in Northern Ireland in such a historic location as well.”

Ms Cooper referred to “rich discussions” the night before about Northern Ireland’s experiences, almost three decades on from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

She noted it was also 30 years on from the Dayton Agreement in 1995 which ended the war in Bosnia, and being gathered at Hillsborough Castle, “a symbol of peace and progress and reconciliation”.

Ahead of the summit, the UK promised funding for strengthened border security and law enforcement training in Kosovo as well as support to bolster cyber defences against the threat of interference from Russia in the region.

Ms Cooper also announced a £10 million investment for schemes aimed at tackling people-smuggling in the Western Balkans and other key regions.

The Western Balkans is a key transit route through which migrants travel to the European Union and UK, accounting for almost 22,000 irregular border crossings in the continent recorded last year, according to the Foreign Office.