At 7 p.m. on Friday 10 December, Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger are to open the conference “Prospects for South Eastern Europe: Germany, Austria and the USA in dialogue with decision-makers from the region”.

As part of the opening event, both Spindelegger and Westerwelle will address speeches to the participants and then take part in a panel discussion with high-ranking politicians from South-Eastern Europe.

The first event of this conference, which is being jointly run by the Federal Foreign Office, the Embassy of the Republic of Austria and the Aspen Institute, will be held in the Austrian Embassy at Stauffenbergstrasse 1. Members of the press are requested to register with the Embassy by calling 030-20287-160.

On Saturday 11 December, Foreign Minister Westerwelle is hosting a working breakfast for the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.