About 50 participants from Balkan and EU countries, as well as from the United States and Russia, discussed behind closed doors ways of achieving stability in the Balkans, cooperation and stability in the Black Sea region and the Thessaloniki agenda, which promised all Balkan countries the prospect of membership in the European Union.
Also discussed were the roles of Russia and the US in creating security and stability in the region, and regional cooperation in Southeast Europe.
The fact that the meeting was closed to the public somehow made it possible for different problems to be discussed more openly and sincerely, Croatian Assistant Foreign Minister Damir Kusen said after the conference.
"Croatia is no longer viewed as belonging to that unfortunately insufficiently stable part of the region, but as a positive model, and was presented as such at the conference," he noted.
Kusen said that the prospect of EU membership for all Balkan countries was the best guarantor of security in the entire region.
"Croatia is not only a positive example, but it also shows best that countries should focus on their own strengths, particularly on economic development," Kusen said, adding that it was in everyone's interest to achieve security and stability as a basic precondition for development and for attracting foreign investment in the region.
The conference was chaired by the President of the Alpbach Forum, Erhard Busek.