| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee |
|---|---|
| Publisher | United Kingdom: Parliament |
| Series Title | 10th Report |
| Series Details | (2017-19) HC1013 |
| Publication Date | 06/07/2018 |
| Content Type | Policy-making, Report |
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The United Kingdom House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published a report Global Britain and the Western Balkans on the 6 July 2018. The Committee said that the UK Government should plan what it wanted to achieve in the Western Balkans over the next ten years, in order to demonstrate a credible and independent post-Brexit strategy for achieving its objectives in the region. Further information The Foreign Affairs Committee's report was published ahead of the fifth annual Western Balkans Summit, hosted by the UK on 9-10 July 2018, under the auspices of the Berlin Process. The UK, a longstanding champion of EU accession for the Western Balkans Six (WB6), was hosting the Summit focused on EU enlargement. The UK had long supported EU membership for the Western Balkans and the FCO told the Committee that this would not change after Brexit. While the Committee welcomed this commitment, a sign of 'Global Britain' in action, it believed the UK’s influence might be lessened in the region if it was no longer involved after Brexit. This annual summit aimed to accelerate the reforms needed for the WB6 to qualify for EU membership. This would be no easy task, said the Report, as problems that had long held the region back from joining the EU — corruption, organised crime, authoritarianism and economic stagnation — had not gone away. With outside actors like Russia preying on the region’s vulnerabilities, it faced a long and difficult road to EU membership, with no guarantee of success. The Report recommended that the Government, as hosts, should push the Summit to adopt a robust set of commitments that could make a real difference to the Western Balkans. |
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| Source Link | https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmfaff/1013/1013.pdf |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Southeastern Europe, United Kingdom |
