Brussels – All is ready for a new meeting of the European Political Community, the platform for coordination between European heads of state and government from both EU and non-EU countries. Now approaching its sixth biannual meeting, the summit will take place on 16 May 2025 in Tirana, home to the newly re-elected Prime Minister Edi Rama.
New Europe in a new world: unity – cooperation – joint action is the title of the meeting in Tirana, which will focus on security and a shared vision for the future of Europe, including coordination around a possible start to peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. One of the three high-level roundtables will focus specifically on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its implications for European security and democratic resilience. The other two roundtables will address mobility challenges – including migration – and youth empowerment, as well as competitiveness and economic security.
The sixth meeting of the European Political Community will be co-chaired by Albanian Prime Minister Rama and European Council President António Costa, with 47 heads of state and government invited to attend. Portugal will be the only country not represented, as it faces early parliamentary elections on 18 May.
What makes the European Political Community different
The European Political Community is a platform for coordination between European heads of state and government of EU and non-EU countries on issues of shared strategic importance. Proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron and former European Council President Charles Michel, the initiative held its first meeting in October 2022 in Czechia.
Since its launch, the summit has taken place every six months in a different host country, alternating between EU member states—typically the one holding the rotating presidency of the Council—and non-EU countries. Meetings have been held in Moldova (June 2023), Spain (October 2023), the United Kingdom (July 2024), and Hungary (November 2024). The next European Political Community summit is set to be held in Denmark in autumn 2025.
Apart from all 27 EU leaders – and the presidents of the EU institutions and other relevant European bodies – leaders from outside the Union are also invited to attend the summits. In Tirana, representatives from 20 non-EU countries will be present: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
While this summit may resemble existing EU institutions and international organisations, it does not directly replicate any of them, thanks to its informal, flexible format, centred on an opening plenary session, small roundtable discussions on specific issues, and a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings rather than the complex procedures of more institutionalised bodies.
The European Union is clearly the driving force, yet less than 60% of its participants are EU member states. Like the European Council, it brings together heads of state and government, but deliberately avoids the binary EU/non-EU divide and produces no formal conclusions. In its composition, it echoes the Council of Europe, though it lacks a focus on human rights. Like the OSCE, its aim is to promote peace, dialogue and cooperation, but it has no security infrastructure and does not extend beyond Europe.
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