Prime Minister Edi Rama declared today from Podgorica, that the summit of the Berlin Process in Tirana should be a joint summit of the countries of the region with a unified position regarding the financing plan of the European Union.

In a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, Rama stated that he informed the Prime Minister and his team about the process and effort that is currently underway at the European Commission for a new financing plan and economic support for the region and the Berlin Process.

Rama added that “I want us to use the Tirana Summit [of the Berlin Process] as a joint summit of our countries with a unified position regarding the plan and where the aim should be to have the full support of the Chancellor and Germany in this process”.

“We are in another phase of our history and generations will never forgive us for allowing without doing all our efforts the region to go back to where it has languished for centuries, to the conflicts which have then caused great bloodshed and opened deep gaps of hatred between countries”. Rama emphasized that “we don’t need new heroes in our region, but we need new models that inspire everyone on how to be more innovative, creative, and efficient, make our economies stronger, and stimulate development, to increase the capabilities of our people to cope with a world that is becoming increasingly difficult and complex”.

“I also informed him about the preparation of an informal meeting, an informal working lunch in Tirana on July 17 together with representatives of the Commission from Brussels to discuss the plan,” he added.

Abazovic emphasized that Montenegro supports any peaceful initiative to reach a consensus.

“We had a very long meeting, the goal is to invest efforts in order to de-escalate the situation in the Region. We are interested in cooperation and we want this to be a path that our neighbors will also take. The goal is for the Region to be focused on the future, not on the past. We are tired of the issues of the past. Of course, there are still open issues, but we hope they will be closed as soon as possible. We do not support any kind of aggressiveness. We absolutely support anything that implies that the two parties sit down and talk to each other, that a solution can be found through democratic means,” said Abazovic.

Earlier, Prime Minister Rama visited Skopje, Prishtina and Sarajevo where he held high-level meetings.

In the evening, Prime Minister Rama will meet the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade.

/a.p./