Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic attends the EU-Western Balkans Zagreb Summit via video streaming in Zagreb, Croatia, May 6, 2020. The European Union (EU) said that it stood by the Western Balkan partners and remained committed to supporting their efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak and its impacts on societies and economies, said a statement issued on Wednesday following an EU-Western Balkan Summit. (Jurica Galoic/Pixsell via Xinhua)

 The European Union (EU) said that it stood by the Western Balkan partners and remained committed to supporting their efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak and its impacts on societies and economies, said a statement issued on Wednesday following an EU-Western Balkan Summit.

The summit was planned to be the highlight of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the meeting between the leaders of 27 EU member states and Western Balkan partners -- including Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia -- took place via video streaming.

The EU has given over 3.3 billion euros (3.6 billion U.S. dollars) to the region in fighting COVID-19 and the post-pandemic recovery, according to the Zagreb Declaration adopted by the summit.

"The fact that this support and cooperation goes far beyond what any other partner has provided to the region deserves public acknowledgment," it said.

At the summit, European leaders showed their support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans but didn't explicitly mention the enlargement of the bloc.

"The EU is determined to further intensify its engagement at all levels to support the region's political, economic and social transformation and welcomes the pledge of the Western Balkan partners to uphold European values and principles and to carry out necessary reforms thoroughly and vigorously," the declaration said.