Water is an important part of the park surrounding the Brdo pri Kranju Congress Centre. The beauty of the surroundings often softens the seriousness of even the most challenging meetings. The organisers of the EU-Western Balkans Summit were not that lucky. Heavy rains throughout the day had a considerable impact on the scenario of the event, but fortunately not on the content of the meeting. EU leaders reaffirmed the EU's commitment to enlargement to this part of Europe.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen thanked Slovenia for hosting the summit and stressed that the message of the summit was clear: the Western Balkans are part of the same Europe as the EU: "The European Union is not complete without the Western Balkans. We share the same history, the same values and the same destiny".

The Slovenian Presidency enters its second half. Many logistical and substantive challenges lie ahead, but every event in the coming months will be, above all, a new opportunity to reinforce common European values and principles.