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TIRANA, September 2 – The signature of one agreement and three Memorandums as well as an appeal to the EU to face the energy crisis during the winter were the balance sheet of the deliberations of the 2-day Summit of ‘Open Balkans’ held in Belgrade on Friday.
The second day of the event was attended by the leaders of the partner countries of the initiative, Albania, Serbia, and North Macedonia while Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina participated as observers. Turkey and Hungary attended the Summit in the status of guests.
As it was reported at the end of the Summit on Friday, the agreements are in the field of food security, mining and cinematography, as well as a plan in the field of civil emergencies.
During the joint press conference, the member and observer countries of the ‘Open Balkans’ appealed to the EU to help them face the energy crisis during the winter. Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that they will write to Brussels for the latter to provide financial support to WB countries. Rama called on the European Union not to abandon the Balkans as it did during the pandemic. He emphasized that the Balkans, including Albania, will be facing a severe winter, as a result of the energy crisis.
“This winter is likely to be the most difficult winter we have encountered in these years… We in Albania have made a decision, which I still don’t know if it is crazy or very ambitious – not to increase the price of energy for families and small businesses. But this means hundreds of millions of euros coming out of the state coffers. The question is how long this story will continue. I repeat the appeal to the EU not to do to us the shame it did during the pandemic. That forced us to go to China while they only saw inside their own castle. Even EU leaders have accepted this,” said Rama.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic expressed his pride in hosting the “Open Balkans” initiative in Belgrade. He said “this initiative brings hope to this part of the world, which has always been fraught with conflict and misunderstanding at the best of times.”
The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, declared that they had reached an agreement on food security, energy and an agreement on disasters and increasing investments in the cinematographic sector.
Judging from the conversations, it is better to survive the energy crisis together than alone, he said. “With the ‘Open Balkans’ initiative, we have shown that North Macedonia, Serbia and Albania have taken the right steps at the right time. We are facing common issues,” Kovacevski said.
In the meantime the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, said the cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans is the best message of this summit. Abazovic added that “I support the agreement even though we are not a full member of the “Open Balkans” initiative. However this speaks in favor of what the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that there is a positive spirit among the people.” /Argumentum.al
