The Speaker of the Assembly of North Macedonia Talat Xhaferi said that the regional imitative Open Balkan will remain incomplete without the participation of the other Western Balkan countries.
In an interview for KosovaPress, Xhaferi commended the positive effects of the initiative from an economic and social perspective but added that it is the political part that seals its ultimate status.
Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia have refused several invitations to join.
“Regional initiatives are, after all, initial initiatives that should pave the way for closer cooperation, but that cooperation must be complete, and I suppose you have the idea of the Open Balkans as an initiative if it is part of the Berlin Process, for the fact that the idea of a propagandistic cooperation in the micro-region has emerged from the Berlin Process, as propagated by the leaders of the three countries that are currently part of that initiative, and it will not be complete unless everyone is involved,” says Xhaferi.
The Bulgarian veto against North Macedonia has kept Albania’s path to the EU hostage, with many member states opposing a possible decoupling of the two Balkan nations.
Despite the progress noted in the EU Commission’s report that North Macedonia has fulfilled the conditions to open the accession negotiations, the country turned the page to another year without holding the first Intergovernmental Conference.
Xhaferi maintains that North Macedonia remains hopeful in resolving the impasse with Bulgaria.
“Bulgaria has been without a government for about a year. Within the course of 1 year, the country went through elections and now has an interim government operating for a few days and I hope that with uninterrupted communication we will find a comprehensive solution that will pave the way to holding the first Intergovernmental Conference”, concluded Xhaferi.
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