Vladisavljev: Taravari's message about Open Balkan shows an attitude towards Serbia

Stefan Vladisavljev, the Program Coordinator of the BFPE Foundation for a Responsible Society, says for Kosovo Online that there is no mechanism for a country to be excluded from the Open Balkan initiative because it is a "coalition of the willing" whose essence is the achievement of common goals.

"The Open Balkan and the mechanism of the Open Balkan imply that it is an initiative of the coalition of the willing. The participation of some countries in the region depends on who is in power and whether that power is inclined to further promote regional cooperation in this way," Vladisavljev says.

Commenting on the announcement by the presidential candidate of the Albanian coalition "VLEN," Arben Taravari, that upon assuming office, he will request North Macedonia to withdraw from the Open Balkan initiative, Vladisavljev says that this model of cooperation between states does not have a mechanism for excluding the other side.

"For North Macedonia to even consider withdrawing from the Open Balkan, that candidate must first win the elections, which remains to be seen how realistic it is. After that, they should stop cooperating not only with Serbia but also with Albania and thereby exclude themselves. There are no mechanisms for excluding the other side. In that case, North Macedonia would have to do it for itself, meaning the future president would have to withdraw the country from the cooperation mechanism and justify that action logically," Vladisavljev explains.

He adds that Taravari's message should be interpreted in the context of the pre-election statement of an opposition politician from the minority community.

However, he warns that its "echo" is primarily directed towards Serbia.

"As in any political campaign, between what is said and what will be implemented in the future, many steps and time must pass, so I would interpret this as the political statement of an individual, and the context of that statement can be interpreted in various ways. It certainly seems contrary to the current political orientation of Serbia and the relationship that Serbia has built through the Open Balkan with neighboring states," Vladisavljev said.

When asked if this statement should be linked to the previous statement by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama that the Open Balkan has fulfilled its mission, Vladisavljev returns to the essence of this initiative – gathering regional countries around a common goal.

"As long as there is a common goal, it is open to all countries in the region to gather around it. And through the Open Balkan, initiatives can be implemented by two, three, or all Western Balkan countries interested in participating in this process," Vladisavljev emphasizes.

He explains that, in practical terms, this means that any country, a member of this initiative, can skip or accept some of the established cooperation models.

"Technically, this means that North Macedonia or any other country in the region could skip some of the cooperation modalities established through the Open Balkan, or maybe the current government does not want to actively participate, but some future one in any country would like to participate within this initiative," Vladisavljev points out.