The solid economy of the "Open Balkan" is the basis of all perspectives and the strengthening of peace

Writing for Kosovo Online: Zeljko Sain, publicist

When Serbia and Albania sat down at the same table in October 2019, no one believed that these two countries would extend a hand of friendship to each other and establish a joint regional initiative "Open Balkan" with North Macedonia. This initiative of Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia opened its doors to other neighbors as well, with a common goal - to implement the four EU freedoms as soon as possible in the Western Balkans region - the movement of people, goods, services, and capital, in order to facilitate the lives of citizens and improve business.

Although there are political disagreements among the members of the "Open Balkan" - Albania and North Macedonia recognized Kosovo as an independent republic, they are also members of NATO, unlike Serbia, which maintains a militarily neutral policy - these three countries found a common language for achieving prosperity of their countries by joint action within the framework of the "Open Balkan", showing unity on the European road, especially in Brussels.

However, there were also opponents of this kind of joint action and attempts to break up the "Open Balkan". Namely, under the pretext of having the support of the US, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Donika Gervella Schwarz, strongly demanded from the then Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Zaev, that North Macedonia left the "Open Balkan" initiative, otherwise, as she said, "she will deal with them". However, the politician, surprised by Zaev's strong support for both Vucic and Rama, left North Macedonia. Time has shown that the Americans supported this initiative from the very beginning, as well as that with their behavior, Gervella, Kurti and Thaci were the henchmen of those who every day found various excuses for delaying the admission of the countries of the Western Balkans to the EU, and it is increasingly clear that Vucic, Rama and Zaev’s move, and now Kovacevski’s – is visionary.

The successes of this initiative were presented at the recently held panel in Banja Luka "For 'Open Balkan'", organized by the Association of Young Economists of the Republika Srpska.

Among the panel participants were Tomislav Momirovic, Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade in the Government of Serbia, Ljupco Janevski, Director of the Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism of North Macedonia, and the host Zlatan Klokic, Minister for European Integration and International Cooperation in the Government of Republika Srpska. From their discussion, it could be concluded that it was necessary as soon as possible for both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to join the "Open Balkan" initiative in order to promote freedom of life and to join the EU as soon as possible because only a solid economy was the basis of all perspectives and strengthening of peace.

"We have to recognize this political moment because this is the moment when the Balkans must connect economically. We need to abolish all unnecessary border procedures because this is the only way we can generate new investments, increase the circulation of people and goods, and raise the standard of living," Tomislav Momirovic, Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Serbia said, adding that the "Open Balkan" initiative should not be an initiative that omits Sarajevo, "That is not our goal, we do not want it. We share this space together, we have all lived in this place for hundreds of years and it is completely unnatural that today people from Germany and France are closer to us than those from Sarajevo, Banja Luka, or any part of our beautiful Balkans. We are investing a lot of energy to connect economically, for which I thank my colleagues from North Macedonia and Albania."

"If we don't change our perspective, if we don't change the way we look at our economic relations in the future, we will condemn our children to permanent economic backwardness. We must, following the example of the EU, relax border procedures so that people can travel freely between our states and republics, and this is the focus of our policy. Once again, I thank all the people who are here on the panel," Momirovic said and extended an open invitation to Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the "Open Balkan". He emphasized his desire to see these two countries in the "Open Balkan" community, but he would decide on this independently as sovereign and independent states. Serbia had a developed economic exchange with Montenegro, although not as with Bosnia and Herzegovina; it was certainly large and, in his opinion, it was natural for Montenegro to enter the "Open Balkan"

Ljupco Janevski, director of the Agency for the Promotion and Support of Tourism of the Republic of North Macedonia, in his presentation particularly emphasized the following, "We should not wait for the EU to receive us, but in the period ahead of us, work on improving the infrastructure of air connections, the flow of passengers, business and creating a climate for investment, and I see Bosnia and Herzegovina very quickly in the 'Open Balkan'. We cannot forget about tourism between countries in the Balkans, where it takes at least eight hours by car, or 15 hours from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Ohrid or some other destination. That is why it is necessary that we start working as soon as possible on the establishment of an airline between Sarajevo-Skople, Banja Luka-Skoplje, and Ohrid, and that in less than an hour we can enjoy Sarajevo or Skopje bazaars, Banja Luka coffee or Ohrid meals at sunset. Tourism diplomacy should be an example of how to build bridges of friendship. It is time to show Europe together that the Balkans is not a problem, but a great opportunity, which in the next ten years will represent an economically positive example sufficiently competitive for the European economy."

The host Zlatan Klokic, Minister for European Integration and International Cooperation in the Government of Republika Srpska, addressed the attendees, emphasizing why it was important to talk about the "Open Balkan" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, "We as a ministry look positively at all types of integration processes, European and regional, which can contribute to facilitating the business and life of our citizens. Precisely for this reason, in this way, we want to encourage the other levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily joint institutions, to at least start a dialogue on this issue, but also to speed up Bosnia and Herzegovina's path towards membership in the 'Open Balkan', so that we do not remain the only country in the Western Balkans. outside of this process, which can be a good preparation for EU membership. It is already clear that this would be a bad scenario for us because the benefits of this initiative are visible among the member countries, which have increased mutual foreign trade by about 50 percent." The Republika Srpska did not bypass Sarajevo with this conference, because in connection with the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the "Open Balkan", the consent of political Sarajevo was also necessary, Klokic concluded.

The "Open Balkan" initiative is in line with the Joint Regional Market Plan of the Berlin Process, which was supported by the US from the beginning, and now the EU is gradually realizing the advantages of this regional connection and joint action in achieving European integration.