The US special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said on Wednesday that the United States supported the "Open Balkans" initiative, stressing that any initiative should involve all six Western Balkan countries at the same level. 

Addressing with a video message of the initiative meeting being held in Ohrid, North Macedonia, Escobar said that the United States sees the region through the prism of the 21st century and not from the problems of the 20th century. 

"This is not a political project, but it is a very important economic project. And it is important to remain an economic project in order to focus on creating opportunities for the people of the region and to have greater support," said among others Escobar. 

The meeting of the leaders of Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia, who are also the founders of the initiative, was joined in the capacity of observers by the Prime Minister of Montenegro and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kosovo has declined the invitation to join the initiative. 

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the war in Ukraine makes the "Open Balkans" an even greater necessity. 

"The 'Open Balkans' does not belong to Serbia as we hear these days, but to all the people who live here, it belongs to the Albanian farmers, the closer we get, the more we solve problems and hostilities, the more we have the opportunity to solve the problem between Kosovo and Serbia ", said Prime Minister Rama, commenting on the debates that were provoked by a statement of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, who described the Open Balkans as an initiative of Belgrade. 

Kosovo refuses to join the initiative primarily due to the approach of Serbia, which does not recognize its independence, but also not to be part of initiatives aimed at replacing the European integration processes. 

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said that the "Open Balkans" brings benefits to all countries in the Western Balkans region and that this initiative does not replace integration into the European Union, but is a special initiative of the Balkan peoples. 

During the day, four cooperation agreements will be signed for the fight against tax evasion, recognition of higher education diplomas, cultural cooperation and cooperation in the field of tourism. 

The initiative, according to its organizers, aims to establish freedom of movement of people, goods, capital and services in the region.

(Source: VOA)