WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Foreign ministers from central and southeastern Europe and the European Union’s top diplomat discussed on Tuesday challenges to the regions’ security and the need for close cooperation with and within the European Union to counter various threats.
The meeting in Warsaw was called by Poland’s foreign minister, Witold Waszczykowski, at a time when Poland and other nations in the region are apprehensive of Russia’s military activity. It was joined by EU foreign affairs commissioner Federica Mogherini.
The meeting began with a debate on regional security among ministers of the so-called Visegrad group that also includes the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. They were later joined by ministers from eastern Balkan nations aspiring to join the EU: Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Participating are also ministers from six EU nations in the region: Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia.
They discussed migration, organized crime, radicalization, terrorism and hybrid threats, as well as regional cooperation and good-neighborly relations.
The meeting continued as planned at Warsaw’s Legia soccer stadium despite a brief security breach alarm that was apparently set off accidentally and did not lead to any evacuation.