Regional conference on the Western Balkans in Washington; ministers of all countries present - except Kosovo

The conference "Western Balkans: Transatlantic and Regional Cooperation - Building Strong Alliances" is being held in Washington today at the ministerial level, attended by the ministers of all countries of the region - Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, but not Kosovo.

After the ban on the entry of officials from Pristina into the USA, which was imposed by Washington due to Kosovo's refusal to take steps to de-escalate the situation in the north of Kosovo, it seems that this is a clear sign that Kosovo has been pushed into deep isolation at the most important address - in Washington and that sanctions to Albin Kurti's government are not only "on paper".

The conference on the Western Balkans is organized by the non-governmental organization "Transatlantic Leadership Network", in cooperation with the Atlantic Council.

After the introductory speeches, there was a panel on improving regional connectivity, and Serbia was represented by the Minister for European Integration, Tanja Miscevic.

As regional cooperation is essential if the countries of the Western Balkans are to progress in the process of stabilization and EU accession on the question of how the countries of the region can connect more effectively to face common challenges, with many efforts underway, including the Berlin Process, The Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, the Council for Regional Cooperation and the "Open Balkan" initiative, in addition to Minister Miscevic, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania Belinda Balluku, the Vice-President of the Government of North Macedonia Bojan Maricic, and the Director of the Banking Agency of the  Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Jasmin Mahmuzic, with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia of the US Department of Commerce David de Falk and Valbona Zeneli from the German George Marshall Center tried to answer that question.

The Minister of Kosovo, Artane Rizvanolli, was announced in the agenda of the meeting on a panel dedicated to energy diversification, along with the representative of the US, the Minister of Economy of North Macedonia, the Minister of Ecology of Montenegro, the Minister of Mining and Energy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but only her "virtual presence" was announced, due to the sanctions on Kosovo officials.