Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia have issued a joint statement at the end of the Belgrade summit in the framework of the “Open Balkans”. The statement announced the establishment of the council for the implementation of the signed agreements and called on the European Union to unblock the impasse of the region’s integration processes.

“The Western Balkans is ready to move forward at an accelerated pace. He must move forward. So should the EU – towards the Western Balkans. “Staying handcuffed is not an alternative”, it is said in the joint statement signed by Edi Rama, Aleksandar Vucic and Nikola Dimitrov.

Full statement

The future of enlargement – a perspective from the region

The EU and its member states, together with partners from the region, reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the Western Balkans perspective at the Brdo Summit on 6 October.

The Western Balkans stressed the region’s commitment to European values ​​and democratic norms, to the paramount importance of democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law. However, the EU ‘s controversial capacity to integrate new members, internal debates between EU member states and bilateral relations have hampered the region’ s real progress towards the EU.

On paper, enlargement policy remains active. In practice, however, there is a growing frustration among citizens of the region regarding the EU perspective. In addition, the region has paid high costs for delays in its EU perspective. North Macedonia is a concrete example of the European Union’s failure to keep its promises.

Its government made great efforts to meet the conditions of Brussels, but only found itself isolated and left to face the consequences of EU decisions. The weakening perspective of European integration threatens to leave us more unintegrated than ever. This is a feeling that is shared throughout the region.

While the EU is developing new and far-reaching strategies, the region is desperately trying to implement existing ones. Although we see that our path to the EU is not moving at the expected pace, we remain committed to meeting EU standards and narrowing the economic gap with the EU. 

We can not allow this negative spiral to threaten the very foundations of the future and well-being of the region. The EU is moving forward, while the region is stuck in the dilemmas of the EU itself.

The EU must explore all avenues for advancing the integration of the Western Balkans in the run-up to membership, alongside its commitments to phased enlargement, as envisaged in the new methodology. Accordingly, it would be useful to involve the region in the development of EU trade and tax policies, such as the carbon border adjustment mechanism and steel guarantees, to name just a few. We can also explore the possibility of excluding the Western Balkans from various erga omnes trade policy measures. We can envisage the inclusion of our universities in the EU Higher Education and Research Area, thus offering an equal chance of participating in EU specialized, research and innovation programs. At the same time, our agriculture is in dire need of funding, while it has tremendous potential to expand and deliver high quality products to the EU market.

This can prevent the negative impact on the stabilization and economic performance of the region. We believe that it is in the EU’s own interest to help and promote a region of confidence and prosperity. Further, together, we can explore Schengen participation and progressive integration into the EU common market.

The world today is changing rapidly. It is time to act decisively. We can not and will not be forgiven for missed opportunities, complacency and lack of determination to achieve a strategic vision. We need to understand each other better if we are to achieve the best results. If anyone thinks we should act now, now was yesterday. For this reason, we highlighted today the decision to deepen economic cooperation in the framework of the “Open Balkans” initiative, building work on the agenda of the Berlin Process, focusing on rapid and tailored implementation. We have engaged the Chambers of Commerce in this effort and instructed them to prepare a detailed Roadmap for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on Facilitation of Imports and Exports in the Western Balkans, signed on July 29th in Skopje. We have adopted the Roadmap for the implementation of trade facilitation measures today and have asked the CIF to monitor the implementation process further.

The Western Balkans is ready to move forward at an accelerated pace. It must move forward. So should the EU – towards the Western Balkans. Staying handcuffed is not an option.

We invite and welcome everyone else in the region to join us. The “open Balkans” is open.

/Klara Ruci/