Pulse.Assent

At a reception also attended by the Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Minister for Europe and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster the Prime Minister briefed the visiting leaders on the UK’s objectives for the upcoming Summit. She also sought their views on achieving our shared goals for the region.

Speaking at the reception the Prime Minister said:

Our relationship endures because all of us in this room share the same vision for the future of the Western Balkans. We want a peaceful, prosperous and democratic region – one anchored to European values and systems and contributing to European security.

The countries of the Western Balkans have tremendous potential. And it’s the people here in this room tonight who have a crucial role in harnessing that potential. By putting in place the governance, rule of law and institutions to support prosperity and by building relations between your countries that shape a promising future for all.

The UK will support you in that. Your challenges are our challenges. European security, serious and organised crime, illegal migration, terrorism and extremism; these are all threats that go beyond borders. So I want to deepen further our security partnership to address these shared threats.

At the Summit we will take forward a bold agenda. One that promotes economic stability and fosters co-operation on the security and political challenges that the region continues to face.

We will continue the good work begun by previous Summits, taking forward initiatives countering corruption, serious and organised crime, and other issues that deter investment and economic growth.

I look forward to working with you to shape a positive, productive, prosperous future for the Western Balkans, for the UK and the whole of Europe.

Heads of Government from the region who attended included:

• Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania
• Denis Zvizdic, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Ramush Haradinaj, Prime Minister of Kosovo
• Zoran Zaev, Prime Minister of Macedonia
• Dusko Markovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro
• Ana Brnabic, Prime Minister of Serbia

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

This morning the Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan. The leaders noted the positive impact of the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan last year and the significant progress made in a range of areas. In particular they welcomed the meeting between UK and Japanese Foreign and Defence Ministers and the first UK-Japan Industrial Policy Dialogue, both of which took place in December last year.

The Prime Minister updated Prime Minister Abe on her meeting with senior Japanese business leaders at Downing Street earlier this month and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ensuring the UK remains welcoming to Japanese companies.

They discussed the Prime Minister’s recent visit to China, and in particular North Korea, where they agreed on the need for the international community to continue to work together to maintain pressure on North Korea to cease its destabilising activity. The Prime Minister reiterated that the UK will continue to support all efforts to maintain and properly implement sanctions.