Remarks by President Charles Michel before the EU-Western Balkans informal meeting

Tonight we are having dinner with the leaders of the Western Balkans. It is an important meeting in view of the Zagreb Summit in May. The European perspective for these countries is very important in our opinion. It means that we will try to have a strategic discussion about the important goals we have to try to achieve together.

The meeting we have this evening is with leaders of the Western Balkans, to make preparations for the summit to be held in Zagreb in May. We'll be exploring with all these countries how to build up our partnership, strengthen the European perspective, and give some signals concerning the need for continued progress on the rule of law and on reforms to reduce corruption and combat organised crime. I hope that we will have a frank, intense and open discussion this evening, and that it will provide some very practical and clear insights into the way forward for the partnership with the European Union.