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“An open Balkans” is the best initiative for the peoples of the Balkans, “said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
On his Instagram profile, Vuçi,, on May 27, posted photos from the video conference of the leaders of the countries participating in this regional project.
“We are preparing great things for the citizens of Serbia, Albania and northern Macedonia,” Vucic said.
Other Western Balkan countries have not yet joined this regional project.
Montenegro for initiatives against barriers
Goran Djurovic, Montenegro’s Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, said in Belgrade on May 27th that Podgorica was not against the Open Balkans initiative.
“Any initiative that leads to the removal of barriers, faster movement of goods and services, will be accepted in Montenegro,” said Djurovic, after meeting with the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia, Tatjana Matic. of this ministry.
Minister Matic expressed the hope that Montenegro will join the “Open Balkans”.
“We agreed that the presence and support of Montenegro in that initiative is very important,” Matic said.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic said on May 26th that he would respond to an invitation from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to attend the summit in Ohrid.
“Any regional initiative that can accelerate integration is something we must accept,” Abazovic said, adding that there is no alternative to European Union membership.
Next meeting in Ohrid
The next meeting of the Open Balkans initiative will be held in Ohrid on June 7th and 8th, where, as Serbian Prime Minister Ana Bernabic announced during an official visit to Skopje on May 18th, an information identification system will be presented. unique number for work permit. The goal, she said, is to create a common labor market for the citizens of Serbia, Northern Macedonia and Albania.
The Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Dimitro Kovacevski, said at the time that the “Open Balkans” initiative had contributed more than 1 billion euros in trade between Serbia and Northern Macedonia last year.
The “Open Balkans” Agreement inherited the project called “mini-Schengen”, which was first presented to the public in October 2019 in Novi Sad, where the political leaders of Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia signed the Declaration of the goal of creating a small Schengen ”based on the free movement of people, capital, goods and services.
Based on the then agreement of the three states, since 2020, an agreement has been reached for the travel of their citizens without a passport, only with an ID card.
At the end of July 2021, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vuçiç, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, and the then Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, signed in Skopje the agreement on the Open Balkans, which, as announced, with entry into force on 1 January 2023, should enable the abolition of border controls between these countries.
Co-operation agreements on facilitating the import, export and movement of goods, a memorandum of co-operation on free access to the labor market and a co-operation agreement on natural disaster protection in the Western Balkans were also signed at the time.
The initiative plans to create a market of 12 million inhabitants, as much as these three countries have together, as well as a single economic zone.
Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to oppose involvement in the “Open Balkans” initiative.
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