The three initiators of Open Balkan – the leaders of Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia – have boosted their plan for regional integration by signing five agreements in Tirana today, following several years of lack of progress in European integration.
European Commissioner Oliver Varlhelyi, who joined today’s Tirana summit via teleconference, fully supported the Open Balkan, stressing that he hoped this could replace the allegedly abandoned Common Regional Market (CRM) under the Berlin Process – a similar but more robust initiative signed by all six Western Balkan countries in November 2020. Varhelyi did not elaborate which countries have walked away from the CRM.
“At Open Balkans Summit today: based on EU rules, any regional cooperation is not only welcome but is also to the benefit of Western Balkans & EU. It would be ideal to find a way back to return to Common Regional Market. I invite the other three partners back in the process,” Varhelyi tweeted after the summit.
As agreed under the CMR, Western Balkan countries scrapped roaming fees in July, while a detailed action plan is in place, including all Open Balkan objectives.
Delegations led by Rama, Vucic and Zaev signed five agreements on free movement of workers, connection of electronic identification systems, veterinary and food security, and facilitation of border procedures for companies operating in the security and defense fields.
The Macedonian leader, Zoran Zaev said the EU has failed with the European integration of the Balkans: “When the EU fails, it’s our task to take up initiatives to Europeanize the region.”
Vucic called on Albanians to consider Serbia as their second home. He invited Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to also join the initiative, but highlighted that the initiators do not owe any apologies to them.
The same message was reiterated by Rama, who called on the three non-aligned countries to join the move to “take destiny in our own hands” in front of the region’s failure to integrate into the EU.
The Albanian prime minister criticized the Berlin Process for allegedly failing to implement projects agreed by the six Western Balkan countries, and stressed that the Open Balkan is now going to take over the implementation. “This is the reason why we have established this initiative,” he stated.
The next Open Balkan summit is scheduled to be held in North Macedonia in February.
