Macedonian Foreign Affairs Ministry is organizing a conference on the upcoming Paris summit on the Balkans. Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki and French Ambassador to Macedonia Laurence Auer are expected to open the conference, which will feature French diplomat tasked with organizing the summit Antoine Grassin.
Austrian, German and Italian ambassadors to Macedonia are also expected to take part in the conference at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Paris summit is planned for 4 July, and, as previous summits in Berlin and Vienna, it should focus on resolving bilateral disputes in the region and looking for ways to finance significant infrastructure projects. Energy and transportation are high on the agenda, and countries are encouraged to submit joint infrastructure proposals that might secure funding from the European Union. Among other projects, Macedonia is floating the proposal of a Kicevo-Ohrid railway link, that will allow rail connection with Albania all the way to the port of Durres.