Ashton, Clinton to pay joint visit to the Balkans

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton will travel to the Western Balkans next week. She will be in the region for a joint visit with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A statement from Ashton's office here today said the first stop of the joint visit will be Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), on Tuesday. Ashton and Clinton will meet the BiH Presidency in order to express support for the European perspective of the single, united and sovereign BiH. They will also urge the leaders to address the pressing challenges and reforms, including in economy, job creation and the rule of law, noted the statement. On Wednesday, Ashton and Clinton will visit Belgrade and Pristina. In Serbia, they are scheduled to meet President Nikolic and Prime Minister Dacic, in Kosovo they will meet President Jahjaga and Prime Minister Thaci. The two western officials will express support for the dialogue for the normalisation of relations and bring Serbia and Kosovo closer to the EU.