Source: European Parliament
On 16 May 2025, over 40 European leaders gathered for the sixth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC). This was the first EPC meeting to take place in the Western Balkans. The evening before the EPC, there was an informal dinner between EU and Western Balkan leaders, which had been preceded by a week of visits by the European Council President to the Western Balkan capitals. The summit comes days after parliamentary elections in Albania (held on 11 May), which incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama won on a pro-EU mandate. The overarching theme for the summit was ‘New Europe in a new world: Unity – cooperation – joint action’, with a strong emphasis on support for Ukraine, as well as three roundtable topics: security and democratic resilience; competitiveness; and mobility, migration and youth. Similarly to previous EPC meetings, no concrete deliverables or joint statements on behalf of all the leaders were published at the end of the summit. However, a coordinating team for the EPC was announced during Rama’s press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, as leader of the country which will be hosting the next EPC meeting. The coordinating team will operate under the office of the European Council President.