Securing permanent and diverse energy supply is necessary for the economic development and social stability of the countries in the region, reads a declaration adopted at the end of the summit that was attended by the presidents of Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, the chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's collective presidency, and the vice-president of Bulgaria.
Establishing a functioning, transparent and competitive regional energy market is an important step towards integration with the European market, the declaration reads.
The summit gathered Presidents Stjepan Mesic of Croatia, Alfred Moisiu of Albania, Branko Crvenkovski of Macedonia, Filip Vujanovic of Montenegro and Boris Tadic of Serbia, as well as the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nebojsa Radmanovic, and the Vice-President of Bulgaria, Angel Marin.
Romanian President Traian Basescu was unable to attend due to an impeachment procedure.
Participants in the meeting agreed that more investments in the energy sector would diversify energy supply, create new jobs, and encourage innovations and technology transfer in the Energy Community, established recently to help the region integrate with the EU.
The countries of the region also agreed to apply the principle of solidarity and good neighbourly and regional cooperation in times of local or global energy crises.