Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama began his tour of Western Balkan countries on Thursday, stopping in North Macedonia, where he and his Macedonian counterpart both suggested the EU needed to do more for the region.
Last weekend, Rama said the Open Balkan initiative had fulfilled its mission, and it is time to focus on the Berlin process and EU membership. He announced that the next Berlin summit would be held in Tirana in October and that he would travel to Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia to meet their respective leaders and discuss the process.
At a press conference with Macedonian Prime Minister Dimita Kovacevski, he defended the Open Balkan initiative, which had received mixed reviews in the region and beyond.
“I would do the Balkan Open 1,000 times if I could come back a thousand times. The Open Balkans is not an exclusive initiative; it is one of 72 initiatives in this region. What bad happened in the open Balkans region, besides good?! Take a look at the trade figures between countries. The open Balkans allowed the Berlin process to benefit from the impetus given by the open Balkans. I don’t understand how there are still doubts when the facts are clear,” Rama said.
The Open Balkan format involves Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia, with Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina refusing to participate and Montenegro hesitant for now. It aims to facilitate free movement, trade and ties between countries in the region through a series of agreements, with leaders meeting periodically to sign agreements.
It has, however, sparked controversy, with Kosovo condemning Serbia’s involvement and fearing that it could harm the Berlin process, mainly because it was put in place at a time when EU enlargement was particularly stagnant.
Kovacevski said they deserved to be congratulated for this initiative because it brought concrete results in a short time, welcomed by citizens, but that the Berlin process is also important.
“In addition to the political messages emanating from this process, we, as a region, need rapid, concrete and necessary benefits that will increase the economic potential of the region and reduce the gap between the candidate countries for membership of the EU and EU member countries, particularly in the countries of the European Union. Southeast European region,” Kovacevski said.
Rama added that his meeting with Skopje was also aimed at discussing the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, where Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro – all members – must present a united voice for the region.
“Today it is clear that the EU needs us as much as we need the EU. The next topic is the NATO summit. There is no doubt that we are in agreement with NATO leaders, but Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia are three NATO countries in an unstable region, and we must agree to present the voice of a region. “Rama said.
He added that it has become clear that the EU is no longer meeting the region’s needs for financial support. “That is why we started moving in this direction by proactively cooperating with each other countries, and in particular with North Macedonia, to achieve this common goal.”
(Alice Taylor | Sortie.al)
