Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, along with the Heads of Government of Albania, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, and the EU enlargement, transport commissioners, Johannes Hahn and Violeta Bulc respectively, agreed Tuesday in Brussels on inclusion of Western Balkan countries in the EU core network for infrastructural linking, for which the Union has pledged EUR one billion.

The Brussels meeting confirmed the agreement of the core network through a joint statement, and discussed concrete ways which would help its implement implementation.

Today's gathering was a follow up to the Conference on the Western Balkans held in Berlin on 28 August 2014 and the WB6 Ministerial meetings in Belgrade on 23 October and in Pristina on 25 March.

In the joint statement the Prime Ministers of 6 Western Balkan countries reaffirm their commitment to connectivity, good neighborly relations, regional cooperation and European integration.

"Improving regional cooperation and economic stability is one of our common tools for matching European standards and fulfilling the EU accession criteria, and the process should bring clear benefits to our citizens still before accession," the statement reads.

The PMs also pledge strong commitment to the "Berlin Process", saying they will remain focused on ensuring that the Summit on 27 August 2015 in Vienna will achieve concrete results based on specific investment projects.

They recognise that improving connectivity within the Western Balkans as well as with the EU is a key factor for growth and jobs in the region.

"We accept that this common ambition will require our personal commitment and leadership. We note that in the European Union, the core network links all EU capitals, main economic centres and major EU ports. We acknowledge that extending it to the Western Balkans allows speeding up policy and regulatory reforms and concentrate efforts and investments on key corridors and interconnectors," the joint statement reads.

It further says that the PMs have agreed the core transport network for the Western Balkans and that the Corridor VIII Rail to be kept under review including through possible financing of preparatory studies, detailed alignments, designs and exploratory works with a view to its inclusion in the core network during the next 'TEN T' review.

"We accept that our respective National Investment Committees must establish without delay single project pipelines of priority investments, as they are preconditions for receiving IPA II support for investment co-financing. The project pipelines should reflect the fact that Projects of Energy Community Interest (PECI) are an important part of our connectivity agenda. We undertake to identify and address without delay all relevant measures such as regulatory issues, streamlining of border crossing procedures, which could bring about immediate connectivity benefits for the Western Balkan 6 participants and at a reasonable cost, the document reads.

Today's conference was constructive and met our expectations, said PM Gruevski after the gathering, which defined corridors in the region that could enjoy the support of this initiative