TIRANA, Aug 11 /ATA/ Germany strongly supports the “Open Balkan” initiative in the region. In a response to the Kosovo media, the German government states that any regional cooperation in the Western Balkans is beneficial and as such should be comprehensive.
In an exclusive response to the Express newspaper from the federal government run by Chancellor Angela Merkel, it is said that any regional cooperation in the Western Balkans is advantageous. Germany also stressed that co-operation should be comprehensive and open to all six Western Balkan countries.
“Any regional cooperation in the Western Balkans is beneficial. At the same time, it is important that co-operation remains comprehensive and open to all six countries in the region. “That is why we strongly support the Action Plan for the Common Regional Market,” a German government spokesman told the Express newspaper.
Official Berlin recalled that the six leaders of the Western Balkans have given their commitments at the last Summit of the Berlin Process, held on July 5 on the issue of the Action Plan for the Common Regional Market, as long as they quoted the appeal of Chancellor Merkel to redouble the efforts to finalize the four agreements by October 6, when the next European Union-Western Balkans Summit is set to be held.
“PMs of the six Western Balkan countries reaffirmed their commitment to this historic project at the last Summit of the Berlin Process on 5 July. The urgent task now is to finalize the negotiations about the four agreements on freedom of travel with identity cards, freedom of travel for third-country nationals and the recognition of academic and professional qualifications. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined during the press conference after the Berlin Process Summit on July 5, efforts must be redoubled to take this important step forward until the EU-Western Balkans summit on October 6,” the spokesman added while responding to the question how the German government views the Open Balkan initiative and whether other countries should join such an initiative.
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