TIRANA, Sept 2 /ATA/-By Maela Marini/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama listed Friday a series of benefits ranging from energy, food safety and investment projects from the Open Balkan initiative.
In his opening remarks at the Open Balkan summit in Belgrade, also attended by the prime ministers of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu, PM Rama pointed out a range of benefits for the participating countries in this initiative.
“We are here not to simply celebrate wines, the region’s traditional food, and bring people closer step by step, but we are here at the second Open Balkan summit to take place in the context of the war in Ukraine and we are here to launch several steps under such a context,” the Premier said.
PM Rama underlined that many countries feared they won’t be able to secure wheat and corn and food supplies due to the Ukraine conflict.
“Albania was part of this very disturbing situation as Albanian wheat importers had already signed contracts with Serbian producers in a context when Serbia blocked all its exports. It was the Open Balkan initiative and this increasingly solid relation between us within the Open Balkan initiative that unblocked the contracts immediately for importers from Albania and North Macedonia. And we are talking neither about symbolic things, nor about politics, but about food and bread, the basic staple for the people. Would this be possible, if we were to be on path towards permanent conflict we inherit from the past? No, this wouldn’t have been possible,” Rama stated.
The government head noted that it would have also been impossible for the countries in the region to sign a food security agreement today so that the Open Balkan countries can go on further on creating food reserves.
“Would it have been possible for us to take another step towards the energy security? We established an ad hoc team for this issue as the power supply is now a pressing global issue and our state budgets are haemorrhaging as we strive to secure electricity. We will join forces so that Albania is made available what Serbia and North Macedonia can offer and vice-versa. We know that Serbia and North Macedonia are dependent on thermo-power, whereas Albania is dependent on hydropower. Who would have ever imagined that in order to help ourselves by helping each other we can sign agreements to exploit thermo potentials and secure more electricity,” Rama added.
The Premier also said that the leaders of the three countries have agreed to create synergies and share experience in attracting investments in order to make the Open Balkan space attractive to international investors.
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