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 Mac ...

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

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, 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

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 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. 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 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, Cypru ...

* 12–13 October 1998,

Antalya Antalya () is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast outside the Ae ...

* 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 ...

* 25 October 2000,

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; ...

(extraordinary meeting) * 23 February 2001,

* 28 March 2002, Tiranë * 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 Sarajev ...

* 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 Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

* 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 Sl ...

* 21 May 2008, Pomorie * 5 June 2009, Chişinău * 21–23 June 2010,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

* 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 eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inh ...

(cancelled) * 25 June 2014,

* 26 May 2015, Tiranë * 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 Mediterranea ...

* 24 April 2018,

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...

* 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 Eur ...

) * 2020, Pristina (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 quickl ...

) * 17–18 June 2021,

* 10–11 June 2022,

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

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, Tiranë * 19 June 2002, Belgrade * 9 June 2003,

* 22 October 2004,

* 24 January 2006,

* 1 March 2007,

* 14 June 2012, Belgrade * 22 May 2015, Tiranë * 23 April 2018,

* 5 September 2018, Banja Luka * 25 June 2020, Pristina (Online) * 6 November 2020,

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