Nov 30, 2015 U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and President of European Council, Donald Tusk, recently attended the Southeast Europe summit in Zagreb, Croatia.
The annual event, which saw a convergence of heads of state from southeast and central European countries, was aimed at promoting regional cooperation.
While addressing the media after the conference, Vice President Biden said:
“We look forward to, and it has been a dream, of my generation and my father’s generation, that there’d be a Europe that was whole, free and at peace. In my view, and in the present view, that is not realistically possible without south-eastern, or the Balkans area, being integrated fully within Europe. It is the ultimate guarantee that there’d be a Europe whole, free and at peace,”
Still commenting on the meeting, Biden went on to say that the leaders talked about the importance of energy resource diversification and ways to handle the migrant crisis.
“We also spoke about the refugee crisis that is straining the resources of countries across the region. I understand from President Tusk that he has called a meeting of EU leaders in Turkey this Sunday on the issue, but we already know that there are immediate needs of food, shelter, warm clothing as winter approaches, and these needs are only going to increase. This is another challenge that requires all of us, including the United States, to pitch in. We all have to do more,”