At the joint press conference with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, after the EU-Western Balkans summit, Rama said that the “Open Balkan” is producing results for people, farmers, traders.

“The ‘Open Balkan’ is producing results in all areas. Somewhere they are more visible, somewhere less, but it is producing results. Since the Balkans is not the home of Jesus Christ, but of St. Thomas, we do not believe unless we put our hands on the wound, go to the border yourself and witness the difference. If you cross the borders of the ‘Open Balkan’ there is a green corridor and there is not a second of waiting in line for trucks, goods, agricultural products, milk. Meanwhile, if we transport milk to countries that are not in the ‘Open Balkan,’ when the truck arrives, the milk turns into yoghurt. This is the difference, ” said Rama.

The Prime Minister said that he does not understand the reason behind so much controversy surrounding the Open Balkan.

“We have reiterated it several times. It is open to everyone, to all 6 countries. Alesandar called it ‘so-called’ Kosovo, I call it Kosovo. But that does not keep us from working together. “Imagine if we were to fight, to argue with each other how the Balkans would have been today,” Rama said.

“Ali Ahmeti has put it better than me, because he tried the weapons, but he also tried the wisdom of the words, and he is able to talk about both. Ali Ahmeti put it very simply: ‘We do not want another bloodshed and another war and we want to keep as far away as possible any ghost that may come to this region from the past or the present,’ Rama said.

The Prime Minister added that he felt privileged to work for Albania, through this mechanism and to promote this cooperation that will bring peace.

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During the joint press conference, at the closing of the “Open Balkan” summit, which was held on Tuesday in Tirana, Rama said that regardless of what others say, whether they are against the ‘Open Balkan’ or whether they stand in our way to the EU, it’s important for us to do our job.”

“There is a very Balkan fact that says it all. In Serbia, the President is accused of working for ‘Greater Albania’. In Albania I am accused of working for ‘Greater Serbia’, in North Macedonia I do not know what they are working for, for Greater Macedonia or Greater Bulgaria, that is unclear, but the truth is that each one of us “works for a great transformation in the name of peace, prosperity and the future of us all, first of foremost of our children,” said Rama.
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In a televised interview, Rama said that, “we have embraced this initiative for the sake of Albania and Albanians, not only Albania. And we strongly believe that this initiative, in view of the practical implementation of what are the principles and criteria of the Berlin Process is the only avenue to materialize the Berlin Process. To expand the economic capacity of our countries and definitely bolster peace in the region, creating an atmosphere where the very difficult dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo can take place in more encouraging conditions.”

Asked whether the resignation of the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, hinders the Open Balkan initiative, Rama said, “I do not believe it. Because this is not an initiative related to persons, this is an initiative related to the future of this region. And of course to the benefit of the countries of this region. ”
Asked if a two-country initiative would make sense, Rama said, “Regardless of what can be said and thought, even in terms of pretending, what is worth discussing I believe is what we have. And what we have is the fact that local elections were held in North Macedonia. Prime Minister there had made a statement saying he steps down as prime minister and as party chairman as a result of the election. And now we have to see how that process will unfold.”

In reply to the question if the Montenegrin prime minister had decided to join the Open Balkan Summit, Rama said, “Not to the best of my knowledge. We will be together tonight, but he will not be part of the Summit, because he has come for a bilateral meeting and has expressed the desire to stay and discuss this issue which is an open discussion. And I’m sure everyone will come here because they have nowhere to go in the sense of inclination towards the future. The Open Balkan is not related to any personal or state interest of Serbia and Albania, instead it is a project about the future of this region in which we all belong.

“We did not choose each other, but fate has chosen us to live together. We have lived through horrible times. Now the time has come to build a new future despite all the difficulties and disagreements. The biggest disagreement between us and Serbia and between me and the President of Serbia is the disagreement over Kosovo. But I believe that disagreements in peace are resolved through communication, are resolved through dialogue, through open confrontation rather than turning them into an impediment to everything else.” /a.a/sm/