Zaev, Vucic, and Rama Seek Support from Berlin for “Open Balkans”

The prime ministers of North Macedonia and Albania, Zoran Zaev and Edi Rama, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in an article for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), called on the new German government to support the Open Balkans initiative. “We hope that the new government in Germany will accept and support the Open Balkans initiative as a contribution to the full implementation of the Berlin process,” the three leaders told Deutsche Welle. In the text, they stressed that Europe is not only a continent, but also a vision, but assessed that the citizens of the Western Balkans ‘who are a significant part of the continent and that vision’ have been excluded and ignored for too long. “The desire by our citizens to be accepted by the EU members has been thwarted several times – by the internal policies of the member states, the non-fulfilment of promises and the fear of the future. This has led to disappointment, instability, emigration and the absence of large investments. As political leaders of these countries, we can either complain – or do something about it. We decided on the latter,” says the text entitled “Perspective for the Balkans”, signed by Zaev, Vucic and Rama.