In order to facilitate high-level cooperation between the governments of the six Western Balkan nations of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia and those of EU member states, the Berlin Process was launched in 2014
The goal is to further Western Balkan nation integration and eventually full EU membership.
Following years of inaction, Brussels’ efforts to expand the EU acquired new traction following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
During the 2023 Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia last August, EU Council President Charles Michels called for 2030 to be the deadline for a new EU expansion, in which the Berlin Process would play a substantial role.
For now, the Berlin Process has resulted in a series of joint projects in the fields of economy, security, social cooperation, and ecology, which, according to the Berlin Process website, “brought the region closer to the EU”.