Southeast European Cooperation Process Map

The South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was launched on

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

's initiative in 1996. At the Bulgaria-chaired meeting in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, the

Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...

(SEE) countries laid the foundations for regional co-operation for the purposes of creating an atmosphere of trust, good neighbourly relations and stability. A special characteristic of SEECP is that it is an original form of co-operation among the countries in the region launched on their own initiative, and not on the initiative of some other

international organisation An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...

or countries. In that regard, the SEECP seeks to define itself as an authentic voice of SEE, complementary to the Stability Pact, Southeast European Cooperative Initiative or the

Stabilisation and Association Process In talks with countries that have expressed a wish to join the European Union, the EU typically concludes Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights reform in that country. In exchange, th ...

. The basic goals of regional co-operation within SEECP include the strengthening of security and the political situation, intensification of economic relations and co-operation in the areas of human resources, democracy, justice, and battle against illegal activities. It is the intention of the SEECP to enable its members to approach the European and Euro-Atlantic structures through the strengthening of good neighbourly relations and transformation of the region into an area of peace and stability.

Membership

*Founding members: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (joined as Serbia and Montenegro) ** *Joined later: ** (2005) ** (2006) ** (2007) ** (2010) ** (2014)

Structure

The SEECP is a regional non-institutionalised process co-ordinated by the presiding country. The SEECP presidency lasts for one year and is rotated among the members. The presiding country presents the Process at international meetings and hosts the annual meeting of heads of state and government, foreign ministers meeting and a number of annual meetings of political directors. Depending on the situation, the presiding country may call extraordinary meetings.

Regional Cooperation Council

The Regional Cooperation Council was established at a 2008 meeting of foreign affairs ministers from the SEECP. The organization was founded by SEECP participants and is funded in part by the European Union to further promote European integration and cooperation. The RCC is led by a Secretary-General, currently

Majlinda Bregu Majlinda Bregu (born 19 May 1974) is an Albanian politician and diplomat. She served as Minister of European Integration and Government Spokeswoman from 2007 to 2013 in the Berisha cabinet. A member of the Albanian Parliament from 2005 until 2 ...

and consists of 46 participants. Participants are made up of the SEECP countries, along with other countries and supranational organizations who are interested in the stability and development of the region. A major project of the RCC is the development of the Regional Economic Area (REA), to better integrate South East European economies. The status of the REA has been uncertain with competing integration projects like the 2019 “mini-Schengen” agreement.

Chairmanship

Presiding country is changed each year: * 1996–97, Bulgaria * 1997–98, Greece * 1998–99, Turkey * 1999–2000, Romania * 2000–01, Republic of North Macedonia * 2001–02, Albania * 2002–03, Serbia and Montenegro * 2003–04, Bosnia and Herzegovina * April 2004 – May 2005, Romania * May 2005 – May 2006, Greece * May 2006 – May 2007, Croatia * May 2007 – May 2008, Bulgaria * 2008–09, Moldova * 2009–10, Turkey * 2010–11, Montenegro * 2011–12, Serbia * 2012–13, Republic of North Macedonia * 2013–14, Romania * 2014–15, Albania * 2015–16, Bulgaria * 2016–17, Croatia * 2017–18, Slovenia * 2018–19, Bosnia and Herzegovina * 2019–20, Kosovo * 2020–21, Turkey * 2021–22, Greece * 2022–23, Montenegro

Meetings held

Heads of state and government meetings: * 2–4 November 1997,

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

* 12–13 October 1998,

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

* 12 February 2000,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

* 25 October 2000,

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

(extraordinary meeting) * 23 February 2001,

* 28 March 2002,

Tiranë Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

* 9 April 2003, Belgrade * 21 April 2004,

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

* 11 May 2005,

* 4 May 2006,

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

* 11 May 2007,

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

* 21 May 2008,

Pomorie Pomorie ( bg, Поморие ), historically known as Anchialos (Greek: Αγχίαλος), is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, located on a narrow rocky peninsula in Burgas Bay on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is ...

* 5 June 2009, Chişinău * 21–23 June 2010,

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

* 1 June 2013,

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

(cancelled) * 25 June 2014,

* 26 May 2015,

* 1 June 2016,

* 30 June 2017,

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

* 24 April 2018, Kranj * 8–9 July 2019,

(Refused by

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

) * 2020,

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...

(Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

) * 17–18 June 2021,

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

* 10–11 June 2022,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Foreign ministers meetings: * 6–7 July 1996,

* 5–6 June 1997,

* 8–9 June 1998,

* 19 March 1999,

* 2 December 1999,

* 14 July 2000,

* 16 May 2001,

* 19 June 2002, Belgrade * 9 June 2003,

* 22 October 2004,

* 24 January 2006,

* 1 March 2007,

* 14 June 2012, Belgrade * 22 May 2015,

* 23 April 2018, Kranj * 5 September 2018,

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

* 25 June 2020,

(Online) * 6 November 2020,

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

References

External links

{{Commons category, Southeast European Cooperation Process
Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Cooperation in South East EuropeRegional Cooperation Council
International relations in Southeastern Europe Southeastern Europe International relations 1996 in international relations Black Sea organizations

Membership

Structure

Regional Cooperation Council

Chairmanship

Meetings held

See also

References

External links