We express our gratitude to NATO for acknowledging the Western Balkans as a strategically significant region. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Timcho Mucunski told the NATO working breakfast on Friday in advance of next week’s NATO Summit in Washington, “We firmly believe that continuing the close coordination and joint activities of NATO and EU in the region are crucial, primarily through the acceleration of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes, thus strengthening stability and closing the vacuum that can be used for destabilising influence by third parties.”