Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the two initiators of the ‘Open Balkan’ initiative, invited Prime Minister of Montenegro Zdravko Krivokapić to an informal dinner in Belgrade on Wednesday.
Rama, Vucic, and Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov are in Belgrade for the 6th Open Balkan summit. Dimitrov is replacing Zaev who resigned on Sunday, following his party’s defeat in local elections.
Zaev’s resignation puts into question North Macedonia’s future standing in the Open Balkan initiative.
Krivokapić is visiting Belgrade to participate in a bilateral meeting with Serbian leaders.
His appearance at the unofficial dinner with the Open Balkan leaders came as a surprise, given that Montenegro has so far refused to join the Open Balkan initiative, aligning itself with Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
However, Krivokapić is a pro-Serbian politician whose policies are kept in check by Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović, and his governing ally, Dritan Abazovic, leader of the United Reform Action party.
Although Montenegro has not joined the ‘Open Balkan’ initiative, Krivokapić’s presence at this informal dinner, has been used by the leaders of the initiative to counterbalance Zaev’s absence.
Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia have argued that regional cooperation should continue under the umbrella of the Berlin Process and its Common Regional Market, that are overseen by the EU and foster integration into the Union.
At the same time, all three see Serbia as a threat to their stability.
Rama, Vucic, and Dimitrov will appear at a joint conference at 11:30 today, and Rama will speak to media alone shortly after.
