(ANSA) - ANCONA, JUN 27 - "The European Council these days will take stock of progress in the process of Europe's enlargement to the Western Balkans, in what Meloni called a reunification process, because the Balkans are not simply neighbors, nor periphery of the continent, but the geographic and geopolitical heart of Europe." This was said by the Minister of European Affairs, Tommaso Foti, in a video message that was shown in Ancona where the 25th anniversary of the Ancona Declaration by which the Adriatic Ionian Initiative (Iaa) was established is being celebrated with a conference. Initiative that gave impetus to cooperation between Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Italy, and Slovenia, and later also Serbia, Montenegro, San Marino, and North Macedonia. "The Iaa in this sense is a key tool. - continued Foti - In fact, enlargement is not only achieved through political decisions, but investments, infrastructure, networks, economic and social cohesion. In the Ancona Declaration there is a 'modern idea of territorial cooperation that today is intertwined with cohesion policies that Italy continues to defend with conviction. Enlargement brings with it new challenges, but it represents a strategic investment in the security of the Europe that will be." (ANSA).