Open Balkan

Vui said that he was convinced that it was the best initiative in the last few decades. He also mentioned that he does not want to deal with the issue who wants to join or not, and that it is a decision he leaves to others.

A two-day summit of the regional initiative Open Balkans begins today in Ohrid, to be attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Ministers of North Macedonia and Albania Dimitar Kovacevski and Edi Rama, as well as officials from Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Serbia's neighbours Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bulgaria closed their air space to his plane, Sergei Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow that it won't disrupt Russia's good relations with Belgrade.

Cooperation Conflicts

The West Balkan countries' flags at a Western Balkan Conference in the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, April 29, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/MIKA SCHMIDT / POOL

Russia considers the statement of the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on the unification of Albania with Kosovo unacceptable and expects an appropriate reaction from the West on that occasion.
This was stated by the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.

What remains unclear is what can be done about it. 

Joint declaration denouncing Serbia's irredentist aims

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (C), Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (L) and North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev (R) shake hands after the press conference. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC.

The EU administration assessed negatively the initiative "Mini Schengen", also known as "Open Balkan", of the leaders of North Macedonia, Serbia and Albania and believes that it undermines the region's European integration.

Moreover, on his priority list is to launch the "Open Balkans" initiative.
Also, his priority is the launch of the "Open Balkans" initiative, i.e. the implementation of the agreement reached on July 29 by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vui, Edi Rama and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev.

Angela Merkel visited the Albanian capital Tirana on Tuesday, the last stop on a brief farewell Balkan tour which saw the German chancellor encourage the countries in the region to push ahead with reforms to improve their chances of joining the European Union.

For their part, Marusic and Haddad are decidedly optimistic about the project's significance, writing: "Coming on the heels of the breakthrough Prespa agreement between North Macedonia and Greece, initiatives like Open Balkan signal that something important, and indeed healthy, is happening on the ground: Local leaders are taking ownership of their fate and showing creativity."