4 November 2021

Joint statement of the participants in today's meeting of the Open Balkans initiative: "The future of enlargement – a view from the region"

The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Edi Rama, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Northern Macedonia in charge of European affairs, Nikola Dimitrov, signed a Joint Statement "The future of enlargement – a view from the region" today, within the Open Balkans cooperation initiative. We transmit the text of the Joint Statement in its entirety:

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

The Western Balkans reiterated the region's commitment to European values and democratic principles, the rule of democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law.

However, the European Union's questionable capacity to integrate new members, internal debates among 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 growing disappointment among citizens in the region regarding the EU perspective.

In addition, delays in the EU perspective have cost the region too much politically.

Northern Macedonia is a great example of unfulfilled promises of the European Union. Its government tried to meet Brussels' conditions, only to find itself isolated and left to deal with the consequences of EU decisions. This weakened perspective of European integration threatens to leave us more disintegrated than ever. This feeling is common throughout the region.

As the European Union develops new and far-reaching strategies, the region is desperately trying to implement existing ones. And while our path to the European Union has derailed, we still remain committed to meeting EU standards.

We cannot allow this negative spiral to jeopardize the very basis of the region's future and prosperity.

The European Union is moving forward, while the region is stuck within the dilemmas of the EU itself. The European Union should and must explore all ways towards faster integration of the Western Balkans in the run-up to their accession, together with its commitments for phased accession as defined in the new methodology.

Accordingly, it would be useful to involve the region in the development of the European Union's trade and tax policy, such as the mechanism for adjusting the carbon dioxide emission limits and protective temporary measures to restrict steel imports, to name just a few.

We could also explore the possibility of exempting the Western Balkans from various erga omnes trade policy measures.

Our universities could be involved in the field of higher education and research of the European Union, which would provide an equal chance to participate in tailored programs, research and innovations of the EU. At the same time, our agriculture is crying out for additional funds, and it has huge potential for expanding and delivering high quality products to the market of the European Union.

This could prevent the negative impact on the stabilization and economic performance of the region. We believe that it is in the interest of the European Union to help build and promote a secure and prosperous region.

And more than that – together we could explore Schengen participation and gradual integration into the single market of the European Union.

Today's world is changing rapidly. It is time to act, and act decisively. We cannot afford nor will we be forgiven for missed opportunities, indulgences and lack of determination to realize this strategic vision.

We need to understand each other better if we want to achieve the best results. If anyone thinks we have to act now, that was already yesterday.

To this end, today we reaffirmed our determination to deepen our economic cooperation within the Open Balkans initiative, building on the Berlin Process agenda and focusing on rapid and tailored implementation.

In this endeavour, we have engaged our chambers of commerce and instructed them to prepare detailed guidelines for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation regarding the facilitation of imports and exports, which was signed in Skopje on 29 July.

Today, we approved a detailed plan to implement trade facilitation measures and asked the Western Balkan Regional Chamber of Commerce to further monitor the implementation process. We have also decided to form an Inter-Ministerial Council, which will work closely with the chambers of commerce to implement these measures.

The Western Balkan is ready to move at an accelerated pace. We need to move forward. That is how the European Union should also move – towards the Western Balkans. Staying idle is not an option.

We invite all other parties in the region to join us and we welcome them. The Open Balkans is open", the integral text of the Joint Statement reads.

Source: www.predsednik.rs
Photo: Dimitrije Goll