Readout of Vice President Biden’s Meeting With European Council President

Biden’s visit comes while the debate in Washington about whether to admit Syrian refugees has intensified, following a series of attacks in Paris claimed by the Islamic State group that left 130 dead and hundreds wounded.

The summits are usually hosted by Slovenia or Croatia, the only two Balkan countries that are members of the European Union.

US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Zagreb on Wednesday for a Western Balkans summit, highlighting renewed interest from Washington in the fragile region as it deals with an unprecedented influx of refugees.

Biden will also meet in Zagreb with European Council President Donald Tusk to discuss the migration crisis, the fight against extremism, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, energy and trade.

After the conference, Biden told reporters that integrating the region fully within the European Union would be the ultimate guarantee of stability in the region, and stability of Europe as a whole.

Vesna Pusic, Croatian foreign and European affairs minister, said on Wednesday the arrival of Biden for the summit signaled the return of the United States to the region.

The refugee crisis is stoking tensions among the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor – Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. “That’s how old I am”, Biden, 73, said. It has also presented a major political and security challenge for those countries. Slovenia wants to limit the flow of people talking the Balkans route – from Greece through the Balkans up to Germany – so it can re-establish the normal functioning of Europe’s passport-free Schengen border zone. While it has recently started to erect a razor wire fence along the border with Croatia to aid these efforts, an agreement with its southern neighbor should be the main priority, Pahor said.

Countries on the route said last week that they were restricting the crossings of economic migrants and allowing in only people from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, sparking protests from others stuck at the Greek-Macedonian border.