In October, the UK will host a ministerial on the Western Balkans.
“Northern Ireland’s historic Hillsborough Castle will provide the backdrop for a foreign ministers’ meeting on the Western Balkans later this year.
The Government is putting lasting reconciliation between neighbours in the Western Balkans region at the heart of discussions as the region faces growing threats from instability, corruption and criminal gangs that compromise UK security and growth.
Foreign Secretary, David Lammy will welcome over 15 European Ministers to Belfast from 8 October, to lead talks to promote peace, stability and cooperation in the Western Balkans, strengthen Europe’s collective security and combat organized crime and people smuggling gangs.
The County Down location played host to vital moments in UK and Irish politics, including intense negotiations which salvaged peace talks from the brink of collapse, resolving decades of division between Northern Ireland communities and forging the way for the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998 under the last Labour government.
With unresolved disputes and increasing ethnic tensions in the Western Balkans challenging European aspirations and leaving the region vulnerable to malign influence, the Foreign Secretary will draw on experiences of the peace process and the practical examples of the inter-community cohesion present in Northern Ireland today,” the UK Government said on Friday.