Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, his counterpart in North Macedonia Zoran Zaev, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended an online conference to discuss the so-called Balkan Mini-Schengen.
President Vucic reiterated that the region is a “part of Europe”, and criticized the EU for not delivering on its promises.
“Our countries are a part of Europe and will always be. The continuous failure of the EU to keep its promise and open negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania goes against the will of our people and with the EU itself. We want the Four Freedoms of the European Union to be implemented in the region as soon as possible. We will do anything, what is in our hands, to make that possible”, Vucic said.
Furthermore, it was announced that the next meeting will take place in Skopje on July 29, where the three leaders will sign the agreement that came as an outcome of the Berlin Process.
“As a region, we have a population of 18 million inhabitants, we could strengthen our economy, increase the welfare of our citizens and bring major investments that we cannot attract as separate states. On July 29, we will meet in Skopje to sign the agreements arising from the Berlin Process between our 3 states. A cooperation agreement and assistance in cases of natural catastrophes, and facilitate trade, imports and exports between our countries”, the declaration read.
A few days ago, it was President Vucic that announced that a virtual meeting will take place on June 29 with Albania’s Rama and North Macedonia’s Zaev.
Until now, Kosovo has not participated in any of the meetings as it doesn’t recognize the mini-Schengen, although it was officially invited after reaching the agreement with Serbia at the White House.
The economic zone is an initiative of President Vucic, PM Rama, and PM Zaev aimed at improving economic development and regional cooperation.
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