The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, said that the increase of cooperation in many fields in recent years, but also the geopolitical reason made his country change its mind about opening negotiations for Albania by requesting the holding of the first intergovernmental conference. 

But why right now? Answering this question at a joint conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, Rutte, while acknowledging the reforms and progress made, said that the EU does not want other countries like China and Russia to influence the Western Balkans. 

"Our concern is that what comes as a negative side of this is a growing influence of Turkey, Russia and China, and we are interested in the EU perspective being present here and not the perspective of connecting with Russia, China or Turkey.

We have a very close relationship in these two years in the fight against crime, cooperation and justice, this has built trust, but also to be rigorous and fair. We always look at the reports of the EC where Albania stood for justice reform. The progress that has been achieved in the last 5 years has been so great that it made it possible for us to say 'YES'," he said. 

Regarding the Open Balkans, Mark Rutte praised the initiative and urged other countries to join. "It is an issue of the Western Balkan countries, but it is a way to experience it and to be part of the common market, but there are also positive elements that come from this initiative and I understand that we have Serbia and Macedonia, but others can unite as well," he said.