TIRANA, October 16 – The Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, said in Skopje on Sunday that the Open Balkans initiative aims to deepen cooperation between the countries of the region, but the initiative will not be complete without the participation of six states of the Western Balkans.
In an activity with the ambassador of Kosovo to Skopje, Florian Qehaja, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Osmani said that North Macedonia could leave the Open Balkans if any of the states would be harmed by this initiative.
North Macedonia recognized the state of Kosovo on October 9, 2008, while diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on October 16, 2009. “The Open Balkans is an organic initiative, an initiative of the countries of the region, which creates the feeling that we ourselves can cooperate without anyone else inviting us to any other initiative. But the problem of the Open Balkans is that not all six countries are in it,” Osmani said.
According to him, the positions of the other three countries that have decided not to be part of the initiative are legitimate.
“We consider that if someone will be harmed, I am also thinking about Kosovo because of its views on this initiative then we will not participate in this initiative. We will be guardians of the defense of any country in the Open Balkans,” declared Osmani.
The Open Balkan initiative is the continuation of the Balkan Mini-Schengen, presented in Novi Sad, Serbia on October 10, 2019, by the leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. The Open Balkans is said to aim to enable the free movement of people, goods and services in the Western Balkans region. Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are not part of it. /Argumentum.al
