Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Venizelos to visit the capitals of the Western Balkan states, in his capacity as President of the Council of Ministers of the EU (18-21 February 2014)

From Tuesday, 18 February, to Friday, 21 February 2014, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos will carry out visits to all of the capitals of the Western Balkan countries, in his capacity as President of the Council of Ministers of the European Union.

Mr. Venizelos will depart on Monday evening for Belgrade, where he will be received on Tuesday, 18 February, by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić and meet with Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, and Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić.

On the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Venizelos will travel to the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, where he will meet Speaker of Parliament Ranko Krivokapić and Foreign Minister Igor Lukšić, and be received by Montenegrin President Filip Vujanović.

Late Tuesday evening, Mr. Venizelos will fly to Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he will meet on Wednesday, 19 February, with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdžija, the political and state leadership of the country, and with the EU Special Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ambassador Peter Sørensen.

On the same day, Mr. Venizelos will travel to the capital of Kosovo, Pristina, where he will meet with Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi and Foreign Minsiter Enver Hoxhaj.

On Wednesday evening, Mr. Venizelos will travel by road to Skopje, where, on Thursday, 20 February, he will be received by FYROM President Gjorge Ivanov and meet with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Deputy Prime Minister for EU affairs Fatmir Beshimi, Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki, the President of the DUI party, Ali Ahmeti, and the President of the SDSM party, Zoran Zaev. Following his meetings in Skopje, Mr. Venizelos will return by road to Pristina, where he will depart by air for Tirana.

On Thursday evening, in Tirana, Mr. Venizelos will have a one-on-one meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, followed by expanded talks in the presence of European Integration Minister Klajda Gjosha. Mr. Venizelos will then attend a dinner, with Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania in attendance. On Friday, 21 February, Mr. Venizelos will be received by Albanian President Bujar Nishani and meet with Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta, Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, and the President of the Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha.