The Open Balkan will make the countries of the region a more compact and credible partner with the EU

The Open Balkan is a domestic product, which is precisely why it has been criticized more than other processes that were roughly served from foreign addresses outside the region.

What is certainly positive is that this initiative, which currently includes three member states, Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia, managed to break down stereotypes between these countries and improved their bilateral relations, but also economic exchange, and precisely because of this, such initiatives should be supported.

However, the fact is that evidently we still do not have, from the point of view of the profession, economists, and other socio-economic experts, what the "Open Balkan" will represent and mean for the new member countries, and that is precisely why we should work on the establishment of an expert and deep analysis that would include both economists and teams from all governments of member states and other segments of society, in order to crystallize the very idea of the "Open Balkan"; to offer the best answers to the questions that are still open from those entities who are still undecided about membership.

However, if we put this entire expert analysis of the "Open Balkan" aside, we come again to the political factor itself, which, regardless of all expert analyses and guidelines, will most likely find new reasons to dispute the accession of the countries of the region to the "Open Balkan".

Therefore, I believe that we need a change in the political paradigm, strengthening of cooperation and trust so that projects such as "Open Balkan" can fully come to life, and once and for all the claims that these are projects of certain countries, primarily the Republic of Serbia and Albania, which still have certain territorial pretensions, should be annulled, and things should be called by their right name, which is that the "Open Balkan" improved relations within the three member states and put aside everything that burdened the relations of those countries in the past.

And that is something that is most commendable, and as far as we can see, none of those countries have lost their sovereignty or territorial integrity.

Therefore, all political claims that are based on such principles, and that call into question the existence of the borders of the member states of the "Open Balkan" in the future, do not have any serious or well-argued basis, and therefore I hope that the period ahead of us will bring opportunities to expand the project. of the “Open Balkan", as a domestic regional initiative that aims to connect all the countries of the region into one strong and economic regional space, to facilitate the movement of goods and people within the region, and in such a way to become a more compact and credible partner towards the European Union, given that all countries of the Western Balkan are in the process of joining the EU.

Written by: Haris Plakalo, General Secretary of the European Movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina