Zaev, Rama, Vucic, Djukanovic on Informal meeting in Tirana

Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev, Albanian PM Edi Rama and the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held on Friday an informal meeting in Tirana as part of the initiative for international cooperation, popularly labelled as “Small Schengen”. The three heads of states were also joined by Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, following the decision of Montenegro to join the initiative. The interlocutors reaffirmed their positions that this initiative is supposed to improve the international cooperation between these countries. “If we look into the past, we will realise that closing borders towards each other brings no benefits to anyone. We need to transform the Balkans in the 21st century and discuss and implement solutions for better cooperation between our countries, making them strong and competitive,” Rama said. The PM Zaev spoke about the opening of the one-stop-shop at the Tabanovce border-crossing with Serbia, expressing hope that in the period to come the same system will be applied at the Kjafasan border-crossing between Macedonia and Albania. “In February 2020, we are to meet in Belgrade, where we will sign several memorandums for cooperation, including the one about the one-stop-shop at Kjafasan. We have also discussed the possibilities for citizens for other countries to not be obliged to obtain visas for each of our countries (Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro) but only one for the entire region covering these countries,” Zaev said.