Seventeen non-members of the European Union have been invited to the first meeting of a new European political forum taking place in the Czech Republic on October 6, an EU official said on Thursday.
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland were invited, the EU official said, as well as Turkey, Ukraine, and Britain.
The first invitations to the 27 EU members for the gathering in Prague are to be sent at a later stage, the EU official added. The meeting is taking place ahead of an informal summit of EU leaders.
Participants are set to discuss security, migration and climate change, and the current economic situation however no formal declarations or joint positions are planned, the EU official said.
The political gathering, named the European Political Community, is the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron, and aims to facilitate closer exchange between EU countries and those who remain outside the bloc, whether by choice or because they do not currently meet membership criteria.
Macron has said he hopes to use it to improve cooperation with the EU's partners in Europe, referring to Ukraine, which was recently granted official EU candidate status, but is unlikely to become a full member of the bloc for at least another decade.
Critics have termed the forum as a consolation prize for failure to join the EU. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently backed the European Political Community but said it "should not be an alternative to EU enlargement."
