Documents on Cooperation Within Open Balkans Initiative Signed

On September 2, in Belgrade, at the Summit of the Open Balkans Leaders, representatives of Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania signed several documents which are supposed to facilitate and improve cooperation in the exchange of food products, energy, film industry and audio-visual activities, as well as in states of emergency.

The minister of agriculture of Serbia, Branislav Nedimovic, the minister of agriculture of North Macedonia, Ljupco Nikolovski, and the minister of agriculture of Albania, Frida Krifka, signed the Agreement on the mechanism of food security in the Western Balkans.

The minister of mining and energy of Serbia, Zorana Mihajlovic, and the minister of infrastructure and energy of Albania, Belinda Balluku, signed the Memorandum of understanding between the two ministries, which entails a mutual support in investing in new capacities, especially when it comes to the construction of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal in Albania.

At a press conference, the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said that he was proud that the summit had been organized in Belgrade and that the Open Balkans initiative had started producing concrete results.

– Between Serbia and North Macedonia alone, compared to last year, the number of trucks which cross the border has increased from 1,033 to over 8,000. The trade exchange with all the countries has increased from 12.5% to 29%. Those are things that show that our companies and agriculturists know that this initiative is of great interest – Vucic said.

He pointed out that all the countries were looking at a difficult winter.

– We will ask for a part of the funds from the EU so as to make it easier for us to go through this winter. We talked about energy projects, because, if we had a good gas connection with North Macedonia, everything would be much easier. We can solve it in the upcoming years in order to be better prepared – Vucic said.

Talking about the importance of the signed documents, he explained that any kind of decision on the ban on the exports of an Open Balkans country would never pertain to any member of that initiative.

– Whatever we have to do regarding the shortages in the world, everything we produce in Serbia will always be available to North Macedonia and Albania and vice versa. I especially want to emphasize that I am proud that Serbia is a member of the Open Balkans and that I am proud of everything that we organized – Vucic said.

He said that the signing of numerous agreements was in progress at the Wine Fair and that the countries of the Open Balkans had shown, through that event, that they were not just equal, but also more successful than many other countries.

The prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, said that the previous day was the best and the biggest day of the Open Balkans, but that it could have been a typically bad day for the Balkans as a whole.

– Instead of opening the door to people who work hard and people who put their souls in their work, people who produce food and everything else, instead of that, we could have opened the door to some other bad news about the conflicts and wartime unrest. Luckily, the former happened. Let’s open the Balkans. It is the choice we have made. Let’s look ahead and bring people closer together, so that they can understand each other better – Rama said.

Rama said that a difficult winter was inevitable due to the hampered energy supply and added that the leaders of the countries of the region were ready to do everything to make lives easier for the citizens and to help each other.

Rama said that the countries of the Open Balkans wanted to establish an umbrella investment agency – an agency for foreign investments.

The prime minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, also called the summit a very important day for the region.

– The next winter will be long and perhaps the most difficult one since the Second World War. Judging by today’s talks, it is better for us to survive together than divided, which is the essence of the Open Balkans. That is what we have in mind in these times of crisis. We have already helped each other during the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters – Kovacevski said.

He added that it was natural for countries to help each other, especially in the case of shortages in the local market.

– This entails securing the basic foodstuffs without limitations at the borders. But we are at the same time working on increasing the local production of food. With today’s agreements, we are taking a look at an even wider picture, in order to solve existential problems. The Open Balkans initiative shows that North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia made the right step at the right time – he said.

The chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zoran Tegeltija, said that it was great when countries solved problems together and that he was sad that B&H had not also signed agreements that day.

– You are all aware how many letters we have sent from B&H so that you would secure our supply with basic foodstuffs. I hope that, although we signed no agreements, you will continue supplying us – Tegeltija said.

The prime minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, expressed his expectation that Montenegro would be part of the agreement of the Open Balkans countries to help each other with food and energy supply in crisis situations.

He pointed out that the countries of the region had to cooperate and stick together.

– Everything else can be petty calculation and politics. I thank the hosts and the friends who have come from the EU and all the ambassadors who are here. I hope we will meet soon in Montenegro – Abazovic said.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Vlada Crne Gore

Ministry of Agriculture of Albania

Ministry of Agriculture of North Macedonia

Government of Albania

Government of North Macedonia

Branislav Nedimović

Ljupčo Nikolovski

Frida Krifka

Zorana Mihajlović

Belinda Balluku

Aleksandar Vučić

Edi Rama

Dimitar Kovačevski

Zoran Tegeltija

Dritan Abazović

Open Balkans Leaders Summit

Open Balkans

Wine Fair