"In this context, the Council (of the European Union) encouraged regional cooperation, notably the creation of a regional free trade area based on CEFTA and is looking forward to the results of the high level meeting on 6 April in Bucharest," read the conclusions on Western Balkan which the Council of the EU adopted in Brussels on Monday
The prime ministers of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia and representatives of the UN Mission in Kosovo will gather in Bucharest on 6 April at the invitation of the Romanian Prime Minister and CEFTA chairman, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, and the special coordinator of the Stability Pact. Negotiations on an agreement on free trade area based on CEFTA are expected to be launched at the meeting.
The Council of the EU also welcome the fruitful deliberations at the EU-Western Balkans Foreign Ministers meeting in Salzburg on March 11 and the joint press statement from the meeting.
"The Council underlined its determination to fully implement given in the Thessaloniki agenda in order to master the challenges the region faces in 2006 and beyond," the conclusions said.
"It welcomed the Commission's Communication 'The Western Balkans on the Road to the EU: consolidating stability and raising prosperity' and expressed its intention to take forwards its implementation," the conclusion read.