Djuric: "Open Balkan" is proof of the strengthening of the political and economic position of the entire region

The Ambassador of Serbia to the United States of America, Marko Djuric, was one of the speakers at the European conference held at Harvard University, where he pointed out that the unity of the region, embodied in the "Open Balkan" as the idea of President Aleksandar Vucic and the leaders of North Macedonia and Albania, was proof that such the supranational approach strengthened the political and economic position of the entire region.

As announced by the Embassy, speaking as part of the panel discussion "The current state and future of EU enlargement: the Balkans as a new frontier?", Djuric began his presentation by pointing out a kind of paradox in the very name of the panel, bearing in mind that the very concept of Europe was created on the Balkan Peninsula, and emphasized Serbia's strong determination to strengthen trust, cooperation, and friendship among the countries of the region, in which our country played an active role.

Djuric pointed out that the most visible example of Serbia's positive contribution to the new unity in the Western Balkans was the "Open Balkan" initiative, which aimed precisely to remove borders, economic rapprochement, and enabled the free flow of people, goods, and services.

"The unity of the region, embodied in the "Open Balkan" as the conceptual idea of President Aleksandar Vucic and the leaders of North Macedonia and Albania, is proof that such a supranational approach strengthens the political and economic position of the entire region in the eyes of the European Union, and thus brings a greater influx of foreign investments from which all involved actors can have multiple benefits," Djuric pointed out.

He also referred to the long way that Serbia had traveled in the process of European integration, stressing that it respected the support of the European Union, and especially the fact that most investors in Serbia had come from the European Union.

"The changes and modernization that our country has implemented so far and continues to successfully implement in the fields of economy, fiscal policy, justice, public administration, infrastructure, and energy have been affirmed by leading European and world institutions for years," Djuric said.

He added that Serbia showed that, although we were a small Balkan country, it strived to preserve its role as the largest regional economy and the largest investment market for European, American, and global companies.

"Serbia, through a decade of first crisis management and then development management under the leadership of President Vucic, has grown from an object of international politics to an agent of it. And the one who leads forward with responsibility and example," Djuric concluded.

On the sidelines of the Conference, Djuric met with the president of the "Jacques Delors" Institute from Paris, Enrico Letta, as well as with the director of the Institute for Politics at Harvard University, Setti Warren, with whom he discussed the prospects of institutional linking of educational institutions that would provide new opportunities for students and teaching staff in Serbia and America.