Faster and simpler circulation of goods, services and capital, easier border crossing and the establishment of a common labor market - these are some of the key benefits of the "Open Balkans" initiative, which was created by Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia, and which is supported by part of the new Montenegrin government.
This was assessed by the vice-president of the Belgrade Center for Foreign Policy and former vice-president of the Government of Serbia for European integration, Suzana Grubješić, who states that the most important benefit of the project, which started in 2019, is the improvement of regional relations.
"Open Balkans" was launched in November 2019, under the informal name "mini Schengen", by President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama and then Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev, with the aim of creating a zone of free movement of goods, services and people in the Western Balkans.
However, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosovo did not join the initiative, although they received invitations, justifying it with different reasons.
Part of the Montenegrin public claims that "Open Balkans" is a bad substitute for the EU, that it will distance Montenegro from Brussels and that Vučić will use it to strengthen Serbia's role in the Balkans, while some economists assess, among other things, that the initiative enables a too liberal trade regime, which encroaches on Montenegrin laws.
The next summit of the initiative will be held in Ohrid on June 7 and 8, and Prime Minister Dritan Abazović announced his attendance as an observer. Some of his colleagues from the Government have already sent him a public warning that he must not sign any document, if he does not want to risk the stability of the executive power.
Prime Minister of Kosovo Aljbin Kurti said earlier that the Open Balkans "looks more like the Balkans open to influences from the East, especially from Russia and China". His predecessor, Avdullah Hoti, signed the Washington Agreement in 2020, which committed Kosovo to join the initiative.
BiH officials have assessed that instead of new initiatives, similar old ones should be implemented, such as the common regional market, which was launched as part of the Berlin process (which started in 2014).
Last year, Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia signed several agreements that, among other things, will result in the abolition of border and customs controls from January 1, 2023, which will facilitate the import, export and movement of goods.
Three countries allowed their citizens to cross their borders only with an ID card.
At the beginning of the year, the agreement that enabled the rapid circulation of agricultural and food products began to be applied.
One of the agreements foresees freer access to the labor market, which plans to simplify the procedures for obtaining work permits for citizens of all three countries, as well as the use of obtained work permits on the territory of any of them (so-called single work permits).
Also, citizens of the three countries will have equal access to residence permits.
The agreements defined the abolition of trade barriers in the field of agriculture, and mutual assistance in emergency situations.
Grubješić says that he thinks that regional cooperation, along with the mentioned economic and transit advantages, is more than enough reason for Montenegro to join the initiative, which is normally supported by the USA, but also by some European addresses.
"The initiative is already successful, because the relations between the countries that make up it have been improved, and they have not been like that for the last 20-30 years. However, everyone's wish is that it remains inclusive and that everyone gets involved in it. The potential of a common regional market is huge. The World Bank estimates that in this way the region's GDP could be increased by a third. Then investments of a different nature could come here - primarily high technology. The economic benefits are on the side of the initiative, and there are political objections everywhere. "Not everyone in Serbia likes the cooperation with Albania, but people still see how some things are implemented more successfully and faster," Grubješić told "Vijesti".
She states that the "Open Balkans" is in no way contrary to European rules and criteria, and that those countries that are negotiating with the EU will continue to do so.
"The initiative will experience its full success only when all the countries of the region are in it. Therefore, it must remain inclusive. All political reasons against the initiative should be put aside and its benefits should be looked at. I have listened to Montenegrin politicians, economists, and NGOs, but businessmen still think the most rationally. They see a concrete benefit, and I think they should be listened to," emphasizes the interlocutor.
"Open Balkans" supports part of the new Montenegrin government, led by Abazović, who recently spoke about the fact that there is no need to rush into any initiative, and that it seems to him that part of Montenegrin society is against "Open Balkans" - "only because they are against everything that Serbia is".
"There (in Ohrid) will be representatives of the American administration and the EU. If someone thinks we should integrate somewhere else - let them say. If someone thinks that we should go towards (Vladimir) Putin or towards some other countries - let them say. The foreign policy orientation of Montenegro should be such that we are close to the EU and the USA", said Abazović.
"Vijesti" contacted several interlocutors, economic experts and former ministers yesterday, but no one wanted to talk about the advantages or disadvantages of the initiative for the citizens of Montenegro.
Deputy Assistant US Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar previously said that the US has two conditions for supporting the "Open Balkans" - that the initiative be open to everyone and that appropriate standards and institutions are respected. At a hearing in the Senate at the beginning of the year, he announced that the "Unlocked Balkans" is the third pillar of the American strategy for the region.
On the other hand, the EU has repeatedly welcomed "the fact that the participants of the 'Open Balkans' initiative are committed to promoting greater regional integration", stating that the Berlin process applies to all countries of the region and that its goal is the establishment of a common market.
The EU's special envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajčak, announced on Monday in Budva that the EU supports any initiative that is inclusive, does not exclude anyone and is based on European standards.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, was more direct recently, who stated in Tirana that he personally supports the "Open Balkans" and believes that all countries of the region should join it.
Grubješić points out that no regional project, including this one, is a substitute for European integration. He underlines that it should be clear to everyone.
"Finally, we were able to hear support for the initiative from the President of the European Council, Michel. Until then, it was a little more difficult to decipher who supports what in the EU. With the strong support of the EU and the US, this initiative has all the prerequisites to succeed. However, the main precondition is that everyone in the Western Balkans cooperates with each other. "Relaxing mutual relations and raising them to a higher level is a real benefit of cooperation," she says.
More than 40 percent of citizens for "Open Balkans"
Almost half of the citizens are not or have very little information about the "Open Balkans" - the research of the Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI) showed.
"While almost half of the respondents, 48 percent, estimate that they are not informed at all or that they are very little informed, only five percent claim that they are fully informed, and only 16 percent are somewhat informed," said the NGO.
When asked whether Montenegro should join the "Open Balkans", 41 percent of respondents answered yes, 17,3 answered no, and 36,8 circled "I don't know" as the answer.
CeMI points out that the percentage of those who support the initiative is close to those who cannot decide - 37 percent. About seven respondents did not want to answer the question.
"There is an interesting significant difference in the responses in relation to the nationality of the respondents, so 53 percent of Serbs from the sample support the initiative, 42 percent of Albanians, 37 percent of Montenegrins, 19 percent of Bosniaks and 14 percent of Muslims," said the NGO. The difference, as they clarified, is noticeable in relation to religion, so the initiative is supported by 68 percent of Catholic, 44 percent of Orthodox and 28 percent of Muslim citizens.
"The majority support for the initiative comes from sympathizers of GP URA, the Democratic Front (DF), the Democrats, and the future parties of the former ministers of finance and economic development, Milojko Spajić and Jakov Milatović," said CeMI.
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