Three years after its creation, Montenegro will join the “Open Balkans” initiative.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic will sit down for the first time at Wednesday’s meeting in Ohrid, North Macedonia, with Prime Minister Edi Rama, Macedonian counterpart Dimitar Kovacevski and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Unlike the opposite stance of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, the head of Podgorica’s government changes course and becomes part of the “Open Balkans”, bringing the number of participating countries to four.

Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina remain reluctant. Prime Minister Albin Kurti once again responded negatively to the invitation, this time from his Macedonian counterpart. In his letter, he reiterates that Kosovo is committed to the Berlin Process and not to initiatives that reflect the interests of the east, Russia and China.

On Wednesday, June 8 in Ohrid, in addition to discussions, several agreements will be signed, where the most important and promised at the last meeting in Tirana, was the removal of tariff barriers for some of the export and import products between the three countries. An agreement is also expected with the focus on tourism, on the adaptation of legislation for tour operators in order to attract as many tourists to the Western Balkans.

It remains to be seen whether Montenegro will be part of these agreements, and in particular what Dritan Abazovic’s position will be after the roundtable discussion between Rama, Kovacevski and Vucic.

The meeting of the four leaders leads to the official visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to some of the countries of the Western Balkans, namely Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

/Klara Ruci/