RAI takes part in the 17th Annual Meeting of the Regional Cooperation Council

Director of RAI Secretariat Mr. Albert Hani participated in the Annual Meeting that the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the SEECP Chair-in-Office organized on 16 June 2025, in Tirana, Albania.

17th Annual RCC Meeting was co-chaired by the RCC Secretary General, Mr. Amer Kapetanović, and the Director General at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, as Chair-in-Office of the SEECP Mr. Gazmend Barbullushi. The meeting brought together representatives of RCC participants and partners to take stock of the past year’s achievements and set future priorities for regional cooperation in South East Europe.

The participants were presented with the RCC Annual Report, including a new RCC Strategy and Work Programme (SWP) 2026-2028, which sets an ambitious agenda for the upcoming years. They were also updated on the progress of the SEE2030 Strategy’s implementation.

“It is imperative to commend the RCC for its accomplishments last year and express confidence that, under the leadership of Mr. Amer Kapetanović, even greater achievements will be realized” stated the RAI Secretariat’s Director. He congratulated Albania for hosting this meeting and invited the RCC and all present international organizations to incorporate RAI into the design and implementation processes of multilateral agreements, leveraging the expertise of RAI experts and partners. He also provided a brief report on RAI activities and expressed a willingness to collaborate further with the RCC and other institutions, emphasizing the necessity of integrating anti-corruption mechanisms, asset recovery protocols, conflict-of-interest management, and whistleblower protection into the monitoring mechanisms of these multilateral agreements.

“The region today has a narrow but meaningful window to ensure the Western Balkans become a functional part of the EU Single Market. This requires commitment, speed, and above all, results. Over 80% of citizens in the region support stronger regional cooperation. This is not just a statistic – It is a call to action. It reminds us that our work must remain citizen-centred, focused on concrete gains in trade, mobility, digital transformation, green transition, and human capital development,” said among others, RCC Secretary General Amer Kapetanović.

Mr Barbullushi expressed deep gratitude to the RCC Secretary General and the entire RCC, emphasizing that the RCC has long proven to be one of the region’s most valuable assets, a vital link between great ideas and their concrete implementation to the benefit of the region’s citizens.

Participants also heard a video message from European Commissioner for Enlargement, Ms. Marta Kos, who underscored the importance of the RCC’s work, said that regional cooperation has already “brought real benefits to the citizens of this region, not at some distant point in the future, but here and now”. The shortened waiting times at borders and the advances in the Green Agenda are just a few examples Ms. Kos emphasized. “There is so much more we can achieve, especially if we get regional cooperation right. It remains one of the best drivers of change,” she concluded.

The meeting was also an excellent opportunity for participants to discuss the next steps in advancing this long-term framework for sustainable development across the region.