Inter-Balkan Summit to take place in Thessalonika, Greece

The northern port of Thessaloniki, Greece's second biggest city, will host the Inter-Balkan co-operation Summit, on the 3rd and 4th of May 2006. The countries of southeast Europe who are part of the Inter-Balkan Cooperation; Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and FYROM will be represented by their leaders, Prime ministers and Ministers of foreign affairs.

The Inter-Balkan Cooperation Summit will focus on all the developments, both economic and political, in the area of southeast Europe, with the main topic being the situation in Kosovo.

On the sidelines of the Inter-Balkan Cooperation Summit, which will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel of Thessaloniki, Greek Premier Kostas Caramanlis will meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in order to discuss bilateral issues, including the Cyprus problem.

For the safety of the leaders as well as for the convenience of city's traffic during possible demonstrations, a security plan has been prepared according to local police. Three years ago, Thessaloniki was the host city of the 2003 European Union Summit.