A Western Balkan conference, organised by the Slovenian and Croatian Prime Ministers Borut Pahor and Jadranka Kosor, began on Saturday morning in the Slovenian mountainous resort of Brdo Pri Kranju with reduced expectations after the cancellation of attendance of Serbia's delegation and of the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Apart from the event's organisers -- Slovenian and Croatian Prime Ministers Pahor and Kosor -- also heads of government, Sali Berisha of Albania, Nikola Spiric of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hashim Thaci of Kosovo, Nikola Gruevski of Macedonia and Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro are taking part in the summit.
Serbia's delegation decided not to come as Kosovo's delegation came without UNMIK representatives.
On Friday, the spokesman for European Council head stated that he had cancelled his attendance and later in the day, Rompuy said that he welcomed the conference on the Western Balkans and that he planned to visit the region soon.
Arriving at the conference, European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said that he hoped that the entire region would become a part of the European Union one day.
"This conference is a right step in that direction," the European commissioner said.
The meeting, which is being held behind the closed doors, is focused on the strengthening of cooperation of countries in the region on their EU path.
The Slovenian media report that the co-organisers of the conference, Slovenia and Croatia, which had outstanding problems in the past, can jointly act on the European scene and set a positive example to the entire region.
A press conference will be held at the end of the summit on Saturday afternoon.
