The Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Majlinda Bregu stated that the Western Balkans needs a favorable investment environment in order to attract long-term investments and prevent the region’s economies from running out of young people.
In an interview with the Macedonian media KDP, Bregu said that attention is currently focused on the six economies of the Western Balkans ratifying the agreements reached in November at the summit of the Berlin Process, held in the capital of Germany, reports RCC.
The leaders of the six Western Balkans then signed three agreements in Berlin, on travel with identity cards, on the recognition of university degrees and on the recognition of the licenses of doctors, dentists and architects.
“I am well aware that it is not at all easy to wait four months, especially after so many years of the same wait. From the moment we started negotiating the agreement, we listened to people’s stories about their experiences. Citizens can’t wait to be able to visit without any formalities or visa obstacles family members, expand their business and travel,” she told Breg.
The General Secretary of the RCC, whose goal is the promotion and realization of the progress of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Southeast Europe, said that Albania and Kosovo* have completed all procedures, that North Macedonia submitted agreements to the parliament this week, that Montenegro and Serbia adopted agreements on government level and that ratification in the parliament is now expected, and that Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the phase of reviewing the agreement.
Bregu also spoke about the Declaration on Roaming between the European Union and the Western Balkans, signed in December at the summit in Tirana.
“In October 2023, the first significant reduction in costs will be recorded. It will start with the reduction of costs for using the mobile Internet, and later it will be extended to other services. That’s all I can say at the moment, because it is still a delicate and complex matter to the process of technical and commercial negotiations with business partners,” she told Bregu.
Asked whether the recent agreement between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti on the road to normalization of relations will change anything, Bregu expressed hope that the meeting in Ohrid, at which it was reached, will be “a step forward on the road to normalizing relations between Belgrade and Priština “.
“I want the continuation of the meeting in Ohrid to pave the way for a new reality between them, because it is quite important for the Western Balkans,” said Brega.