(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 17 MAG - The acceleration of the EU enlargement process to include the Western Balkans countries is the central theme of the regional summit, which opened today in Slovenia. The new meeting takes place within the so-called Brdo-Brioni format, an initiative that Slovenia and Croatia launched in 2010 to strengthen regional collaboration and promote the European path of the other Western Balkan countries.

Slovenia and Croatia are already part of the EU since 2004 and 2013, respectively. Along with the Slovenian and Croatian presidents - Borut Pahor and Zoran Milanovic - the summit held in Brdo kod Kranja, not far from Ljubljana, is attended by their counterparts Aleksandar Vucic from Serbia, Milo Djukanovic from Montenegro, Stevo Pend from North Macedonia, Ilije Meta from Albania, Vjosa Osmani from Kosovo. From Bosnia-Herzegovina, there are the three members of the collegial presidency, Milorad Dodik (Serbian), Zeljko Komsic (Croatian), and Sefik Dzaferovic (Bosniak). On the agenda, there is also the controversial issue of a possible revision of the borders in the Balkans on an ethnic basis, brought to the fore after the dissemination of anonymous documents in the media in recent weeks.

All regional leaders promptly rejected the prospect. The summit will also discuss the fight against the pandemic and economic and social recovery opportunities after the hoped-for overcoming of the health crisis.

Ahead of the meeting, Slovenian President Pahor has had bilateral contacts with the region's leaders in recent weeks and months. At the end of today's talks, the participants are going to issue a joint statement. (ANSA).