{"id":58100,"date":"2026-06-05T18:29:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=58100"},"modified":"2026-06-05T18:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:52:35","slug":"pm-robert-abela-meets-leaders-at-eu-western-balkans-summit-with-accession-on-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/05\/pm-robert-abela-meets-leaders-at-eu-western-balkans-summit-with-accession-on-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"PM Robert Abela meets leaders at EU-Western Balkans Summit with accession on agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fresh from his general election victory, Prime Minister Robert Abela attended the European Union-Western Balkans Summit held in Tivat, Montenegro. During this Summit, Leaders discussed how to further strengthen the collaboration between the European Union and the region at a time of increasingly complex geopolitical challenges.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58112\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58112\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PR260972b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-58112\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PR260972b-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PR260972b-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PR260972b-150x100.jpg 150w, http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PR260972b.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58112\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PM Robert Abela at EU-Western Balkans Summit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During the meetings, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of the Member States of the European Union and those of the Western Balkans continuing to work together to strengthen the security, stability and resilience of the entire continent. He maintained that through open dialogue, concrete cooperation and strong partnerships, Europe will be in a better position to address the current challenges while building a more secure future for its citizens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the realities we are living in, with the challenges arising from the wars between Ukraine and Russia and those in the Arabian Gulf, the complexity for our continent is increasing. And so certainly the way forward is certainly that of broadening our cooperation with the world. And this region is strategically one of the most important for us to consolidate the continent, strengthen unity and prosperity for our peoples,\u201d the Prime Minister reiterated.<\/p>\n<p>The discussions during this Summit also focused on the progress in the integration process of the Western Balkan countries with the European Union, as well as on initiatives that are bringing concrete benefits to citizens and businesses in the region. The Prime Minister stressed that closer cooperation between the EU and these countries is very important to strengthen the economic situation, democratic resilience and European security.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The way forward is to continue to support these countries in their journey to remain close to the European Union and so that when the time is right, that is, when all the necessary reforms take place and they meet the established criteria as we all had to meet, they can also join our family,&#8221; said Prime Minister Robert Abela.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_58100\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"58100\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fresh from his general election victory, Prime Minister Robert Abela attended the European Union-Western Balkans Summit held in Tivat, Montenegro. During this Summit, Leaders discussed how to further strengthen the collaboration between the European Union and the region at a time of increasingly complex geopolitical challenges. During the meetings, the Prime Minister stressed the importance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_58100\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"58100\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path 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Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Fresh from his general election victory, Prime Minister Robert Abela attended the European Union-Western Balkans Summit held in Tivat, Montenegro. During this Summit, Leaders discussed how to further strengthen the collaboration between the European Union and the region at a time of increasingly complex geopolitical challenges. During the meetings, the Prime Minister stressed the importance&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58100"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58113,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58100\/revisions\/58113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}