Foreign Ministers’ assembly of the Western Balkans Summit on the Berlin Process: Chair’s Conclusions

1. On 9 October 2025, the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, welcomed the Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkans Six (WB6) – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – and their counterparts from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany and Slovenia to Hillsborough Castle for the 2025 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Berlin Process.

2. Representatives from France, Greece, Italy, Poland, the European Union, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) additionally participated within the assembly.

3. We have been joined in our discussions by two rapporteurs from the 2025 Berlin Process Civil Society and Think Tank Forum, who addressed the themes of ‘Reconciliation and Dealing with the Past’ and ‘Cybersecurity and Disinformation’. The policy recommendations from the Forum, held in Podgorica on 22-23 September, have been printed.

4. Discussion was casual but wealthy and primarily based on a spirit of cooperation and partnership. The most important conclusions of the assembly are summarised under.

5. In this important 12 months of the eightieth Anniversary of the tip of the Second World War and the founding of the United Nations, the fiftieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the thirtieth anniversary of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we reaffirmed our collective and particular person commitments below these agreements and re-committed to a shared objective of a secure, safe and affluent Western Balkans area that’s as very important as ever for collective European safety immediately.

6. We deplored the return of conflict to the European continent because of Russia’s unprovoked aggression towards Ukraine. We recognised the assist being offered to Ukraine from throughout the Western Balkans area, whether or not that be by navy assist and participation within the Coalition of the Willing, humanitarian assist for the Ukrainian individuals, or collaboration to stop sanctions circumvention.

7. Recognising the importance of Hillsborough as the placement of the Foreign Ministers Meeting for peace and reconciliation, we  heard invaluable classes from Northern Ireland, with necessary contributions from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, Tánaiste Simon Harris of the Republic of Ireland, and UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP.

8. We welcomed the proposal to determine a Northern Ireland-WB6 Working Group to share good follow on inter-community relations, in addition to devoted UK funding to foster inclusive memorialisation by partnerships between UK cultural establishments and native grassroots initiatives throughout the area. We are grateful to the Northern Ireland authorities and all contributors for his or her engagement in the reason for peace.

9. We agreed the Hillsborough Castle Declaration on Good Neighbourly Relations, broadening and deepening the agreements on the identical points below Germany’s chairmanship in 2024 and the final UK chairmanship of the Berlin Process in 2018.

10. We acknowledged the shared threats to our collective European safety of irregular migration, severe and organised crime, and organised immigration crime. The solely method to sort out these successfully is to work collectively and deepen our cooperation, which can be taken ahead on the Interior Ministers’ Meeting and Leaders’ Summit.

11. We agreed that an entire of society method to cybersecurity resilience was vital to countering hostile threats and contributing to regional stability. We agreed we’re best once we work collectively, cooperating and sharing info to handle widespread challenges. We expressed our assist for the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre in Podgorica and the superb coaching it gives, constructing sustainable experience in a co-owned format that offers immediately with Western Balkan wants. Several members highlighted their governments’ plans to extend participation.

12. We additionally welcomed the institution by the WB6 of a Western Balkans Cyber Diplomacy community as an necessary step to boost instruments and abilities within the area.

13. We recognised the menace posed by Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) as a vital nationwide safety problem requiring a nationwide and regional response. We mentioned the vital position of a pluralistic media, and the necessity for assist for media literacy, schooling and efficient regulation.

14. Recognising the particular challenges that FIMI can pose to stability, we proposed joint technical talks on the extent of the problem and attainable options, to be organised within the coming months.

15. We welcomed the mixing of gender equality all through this 12 months’s Berlin Process agenda: gender equality is a key indicator of secure, safe and affluent societies.

16. In the twenty fifth 12 months of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, we affirmed the angle, rights and position of ladies in relation to peace and safety. Evidence demonstrates that peace processes involving girls usually tend to result in longer-lasting agreements, and that cognitive range inside safety establishments helps higher decision-making. We welcomed the launch of a bespoke Human Security Defence Course by the UK’s Ministry of Defence, which is able to assist delegates to discover human safety battle drivers and incorporate these into operations.

17. We agreed that threats to girls’s and women’ rights, and the flexibility to interact in civic life, undermine our collective safety. We mentioned how new applied sciences are being co-opted and manipulated to perpetrate hurt and unfold disinformation. Mounting a simpler, regional response to sort out on-line hurt is significant to creating extra secure and safe democracies the place everybody’s voice may be heard. We welcomed the dedication from Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia to affix the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, shaping international and regional coverage norms, demonstrating management on gender equality and digital security, and advancing worldwide commitments. We additionally famous the launch of STOP Non-Consensual Intimate Images (NCII), giving girls throughout the Western Balkans the ability to take away photographs that could be used to silence and disgrace them.

18. WB6 Foreign Ministers dedicated to dismantling the limitations to girls’s significant participation in political and civic life and agreed to launch a regional community for Women in Diplomacy to advance regional cooperation and reveal a shared dedication to gender equality as a basic pillar of contemporary, efficient and inclusive diplomacy, with the inaugural assembly to be hosted in Sarajevo on the finish of October.

19. To additional assist this problem, the WB6 authorised a call that 15% of funds by the Western Balkans Fund will now be earmarked for initiatives on gender equality. This demonstrates the area’s ongoing dedication to gender equality points and fulfils a key advice of the 2024 Berlin Process Gender Equality Forum.

20. We underlined the significance of sustained and visual progress in the direction of Euro-Atlantic integration for all WB6 nations within the EU accession course of in keeping with the democratic will of WB6 residents.

21. We recommended the continued efforts of regional organisations, together with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) Secretariat, regional Chambers of Commerce and different non-governmental organisations, to determine and drive ahead new areas of alternative for regional integration by the Berlin Process, working collaboratively with WB6 Governments and different companions. The UK introduced that it could be part of the RCC Board, as an extra dedication of assist to the area past its 2025 chairmanship of the Berlin Process.

22. We welcomed the adoption by WB6 Culture Ministers of a Joint Declaration on the Creative Economy in Podgorica on 28 May, which offered recognition of the artistic economic system as a key driver of financial development, innovation and social cohesion and therefore as a strategic sector. We celebrated the launch of 10 new partnerships between UK and Western Balkans establishments as a part of a £500,000/€575,000 fund to share experience and promote artistic sector growth. The British Council will even launch a brand new Next Generation Skills Academy with companions within the Western Balkans to extend youth employment and regional co-operation in Film/VFX and recreation growth.

23. I wish to specific my deep appreciation to all Berlin Process members for the constructive spirit and partnership with which they’ve approached a discussions at Hillsborough Castle. The Hillsborough Castle Declaration on Good Neighbourly Relations is a strong demonstration of the collective dedication from all Berlin Process members to work collectively for our collective safety, stability and development.