TIRANA, June 8, 2022 – U.S. special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said on Wednesday that the United States supports the Open Balkan initiative; however, he added that any regional initiative should involve all six Western Balkan countries as equals and that Washington sees Open Balkan as an economic initiative, not a political one.
Addressing the Open Balkan Summit in Ohrid via teleconference, Escobar said: “This is not a political project, but it is a very important economic project. And it is important to remain an economic project in order to focus on creating opportunities for the people of the region and to have greater support.”
The meeting of the leaders of Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia was joined by Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina as observers.
Kosovo declined the invitation and refuses to participate due to relations with Serbia, which does not recognize its independence, but also because it doesn’t to be part of initiatives aimed at replacing the European integration processes.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said the war in Ukraine makes Open Balkan an even greater necessity.
“The Open Balkan does not belong to Serbia as we hear these days, but to all the people who live here, it belongs to the Albanian farmers, the closer we get, the more we solve problems and hostilities, the more we have the opportunity to solve them,” Rama said.
Serb President Aleksandar Vucic said the Open Balkan initiative brings benefits to all countries in the Western Balkans region and that this initiative does not replace integration into the European Union, but is a special initiative of the Balkan peoples.
The initiative, according to its organizers, aims to establish freedom of movement of people, goods, capital and services in the region.
The summit is also being attended by the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi, who will make remarks later in the day.
There has been increasing criticism over the initiative in the region and beyond, with worries Serbia, the largest country and market, will dominate it. Serbia’s ties to Russia and China are also a concern and increasingly the Western powers are being urged to withdraw their support by Western analysts. Read more on this topic here.
