The prime ministers of North Macedonia and Albania, Dimitar Kovačevski and Edi Rama, stated today in Skopje that the regional initiative Open Balkans will continue to function alongside the Berlin process.
At the joint press conference with Rama, Kovačevski pointed out that "the story with the Open Balkans is not over" - which Rama recently said in Tirana, and today he pointed out that the initiative has yielded "fantastic things, but that you should focus on the Berlin process and support him with all his heart to return to a functional process".
"The open Balkans means that there are many results that are visible, tangible. Next Sunday, I will have a joint meeting with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, where we will promote a joint MTAG for (payment of) tolls for all citizens at Korodoro 10," Kovačevski said.
The Prime Minister of North Macedonia pointed out that "The Open Balkans has not completed its ambition, given that it stands for the same values that the Berlin Process stands for as a larger process that includes everyone without exception", as well as that in a very short time he gave concrete results for three participants - North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia.
"In the area of Southeast Europe, there are 72 initiatives for cooperation, some formal, some informal, some economic, some political, but these stand out as the main ones where most of the initiatives take place. I am glad that they have shown that the initiatives signed within of the Berlin Process can be implemented between the countries of the Western Balkans and this happened within the framework of the Open Balkans initiative, which will always be an incentive for the Berlin Process to produce the desired and expected results," Kovačevski said.
He added that this year's summit of the Berlin Process will be held in Tirana and that it has the support of North Macedonia.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that "Open Balkans, one of 72 regional initiatives, which was created when the Berlin process was stalled" and that it gave "fantastic things that are in the interest of people who use the benefits of the Open Balkans to trade, to move freely".
He announced that he will introduce simplified customs clearance at the Ćafasan crossing between North Macedonia and Albania, which is a "product" of the Open Balkans, and soon there will be an exhibition of that initiative in Paris, and there will also be a Wine Fair, Rama said.
But, as he said, "we should wholeheartedly support the Berlin process to return it to be fully functional, as the Open Balkans showed: that we should be able to be functional when we are together and united".
"The Berlin process did not stop because of those who founded the Open Balkans, to be clear. We will give the Berlin process a new achievement, to turn it into a connected process with the EU financing plan. Germany is, first of all, necessary for us, like all other countries, to revive it together. We are at the moment of transition to the second phase of relations with the EU, and for that the Berlin process is crucial. It is a bridge whose pillars need to be strengthened," said Rama.
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