“There can be no Open Balkans if the six countries of the Western Balkans are not included,” said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, a day after the summit in Ohrid, North Macedonia.

Kurti made the comments while launching the new electronic services on the e-Kosova portal. According to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, the readiness and interest for regional cooperation is expressed in “Kosovo’s support for the Berlin Process”.

“In this cooperation we want to have equality of the parties that we find in the Berlin Process. We do not believe in the self-sufficiency of the Balkans. There are states that have not condemned and have not imposed sanctions on Russia, for the war in Ukraine. We have states like the work of our northern neighbor that is on the Russian side. To have an ‘Open Balkans’, Serbia must be open to Kosovo. You know that Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s passport or identity card. To have an ‘Open Balkans’, let Serbia open for Kosovo and close for the Russian Federation. “The European Union is our destiny and Europe is our continent,” he said.

Asked about Kosovo-Albania relations, Kurti described them as excellent.

“Meanwhile, we have excellent relations with Albania and after two weeks we have a joint meeting of the two governments,” he said.

The next day (June 10), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will pay a visit to Kosovo, news that Kurti described as good “for a kind of update on the Berlin process”.

Yesterday (June 8), in Ohrid, North Macedonia, the next summit of the “Open Balkans” took place, where, unlike in the past, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina were also present. The two countries stated that they will soon join the regional initiative, while Kosovo remains the only country that has stated that it will not become part of the “Open Balkans”.