Cooper affirms UK's commitment to stability in Western Balkans at summit

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and German foreign minister Johann Wadephul welcomed the latest news about Gaza

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has affirmed the UK's commitment to stability in the Western Balkans at a high-level summit in Northern Ireland.

The Western Balkans Summit Foreign Minister's meeting was hosted by Cooper at Hillsborough Castle on Thursday.

It focused on preserving security and stability in the western Balkans, and tackling organised immigration crime.

Cooper unveiled a new £4m project to reinforce cyber defences in the region, and "share expertise in countering disinformation and other malign activity from hostile actors".

'Rich discussions'

At the outset of the talks, Cooper and German foreign minister Johann Wadephul both welcomed the news regarding the first phase of a peace plan in Gaza.

The meeting with European partners discussed the "importance of building resilience in the western Balkans to combat the constant flood of Russian hybrid threats aimed at destabilising the region".

Cooper welcomed foreign ministers from across the region, including North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo, as well as European allies such as France, Austria, Greece and Italy to the castle.

Cooper hailed the venue as a symbol of peace and progress and reconciliation following Northern Ireland's historic peace process in the late 1990s.

"We know that security in the Western Balkans affects the security of the whole of Europe and the security for us here in the UK," she said.

"And it's a real honour to be leading the Berlin process foreign ministers meeting this year and to be able to host this here in Northern Ireland in such a historic location as well."

Ms Cooper referred to "rich discussions" the night before about Northern Ireland's experiences, almost three decades on from the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

She noted it was also 30 years on from the Dayton Agreement in 1995 which ended the war in Bosnia.

'National security'

Cooper announced an investment of £10m for schemes aimed at tackling people-smuggling in the Western Balkans and other key regions.

The Western Balkans is a key transit route through which migrants travel to the European Union and UK, accounting for almost 22,000 irregular border crossings in the continent recorded last year, according to the Foreign Office.

The funding will support new projects in the western Balkans, including law enforcement training in Kosovo, stronger border security and help for potential trafficking victims in Serbia.

Other ministers from across Europe attended the summit on Thursday

The Foreign Office said the department is increasing the number of staff working on the issue of migration, "including helping to identify additional targets for the UK's world-first sanctions regime targeting people-smugglers and their enablers".

It said it was also "progressing negotiations with other countries on the return of people with no right to be in the UK".

It added that the UK would use the summit "to share its experiences of the Northern Ireland peace process, as the countries of the western Balkans seek to continue turning their own history of conflict and division into a successful model of reconciliation and progress".

The prime minister is set to host leaders from the western Balkans in London later this month.