Today is the second day of the “Open Balkans” summit. The leaders of the 5 Western Balkan countries gathered yesterday in Ohrid for the next meeting of the Open Balkan initiative. Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, represented by their Prime Ministers Dritan Abazovic and Zoran Tegeltija, will participate as observers for the first time. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic also arrived in Ohrid yesterday.

The host of the meeting, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski received the 4 leaders of neighboring countries at a welcoming dinner. Of the 6 countries in our region, only Kosovo is missing. Prime Minister Albin Kurti has informed the counterpart of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, that he refuses to participate in this meeting, as, as he said, Kosovo remains engaged in the Berlin Process.

Earlier, after arriving in Ohrid, Prime Minister Rama had a meeting with Prime Minister Abazovic and US Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill, an early friend of the Albanians.

Rama wrote on Facebook that Azbazovic’s participation “officially introduces Montenegro to the ‘Open Balkans’. As the Prime Minister of Montenegro wrote on Twitter: All our “most important foreign policy partners are here. The Western Balkans has a place in the EU and Montenegro as a leader in integration is ready to be a positive example in this process” .

Today the works start with the relevant speeches of the leaders. The participants in Ohrid will be addressed via video link by the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, as well as the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar. With this step, they will prove that the “Open Balkans” initiative has the support of the EU, as well as the US administration. The signing of four cooperation agreements is expected on Wednesday; for the fight against tax evasion, recognition of higher education diplomas, cultural cooperation and cooperation in the field of tourism.

/Klara Ruci/