The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and Great Britain, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Philip Hammond, gathered in Berlin Wednesday their counterparts from the Western Balkans at a conference that was a follow-up to the traditional annual meetings held at this level and to the leaders' meeting held with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in August of this year.

The conference was held in the offices of the British Embassy and was split into two parts—a political and an economic one. It was said at the beginning that the political part would focus on certain pressing issues in the region, without any explanation though what those issues are.

The goal of this initiative is giving a new impetus to the resolution of pending issues while attributing just as much relevance to economic cooperation. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the EU and NATO, as well as by Hoyt Brian Lee from the Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs of the US Department of State.

Representatives of companies making investments or intent upon making investments in the region were invited to take part in the panel focusing on the Western Balkan countries' economic development.