The United States is disappointed that the issue of opening the first intergovernmental conferences for North Macedonia and Albania wasn’t resolved despite the strong advocacy and reasonable solutions by the Portuguese EU Presidency and the major European partners, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Palmer, told Thursday’s panel “On the Road to a Better Connected and Integrated Region – What is at Stake? How do we get there?”, held as part of the First International Conference within the Prespa Forum Dialogue.
Palmer underlined that this also affects US and EU investments in the region, and contributes to increasing skepticism in the region itself.
“Our geopolitical competitors aggressively seek to undermine the credibility between the US and the EU, and the region itself doubts the integrity of our collective commitment,” Palmer said.
Palmer highlighted the importance of the historic Prespa Agreement signed between North Macedonia and Greece, as well as the Friendship Treaty with Bulgaria, which he pointed out as examples of North Macedonia’s greater regional engagement for the benefit of its citizens.
“North Macedonia’s Government is focused on implementing the necessary political and economic reforms at home, attracting quality investments, as well as an active and productive role of regional and economic initiatives. The Government will use its strong partnership with Greece to ensure energy security, and we’re now on the verge of doing much more than before,” said Palmer.
He mentioned the role of the United States in the region, pointing out that the longstanding US vision in the region has been and will remain focused on a region at peace with itself and its neighbors, a region that’s stable, prosperous and integrated into the Euro-Atlantic framework.
“What gives me hope is that this isn’t just the US vision for the Western Balkans, but it’s almost no different from what our European allies and partners also want. Moreover, this is also a vision that is strongly expressed by the Western Balkans countries themselves. This common vision is our collective strength and should serve as our guide as we double the efforts to bring the Western Balkans closer to the European Union,” Palmer said.
He added that this goal must not be forgotten or risk to fail at the joint effort for completing Europe, as part of the strong Transatlantic family.
“We need to challenge ourselves to make the Western Balkans much more of a driver in, rather than object of, Transatlantic cooperation,” Palmer said.
He noted that regional leaders must take a firm stand for their European future.
“The United States believes the region’s efforts towards establishing a Common Regional Market are enormously important steps on the path towards EU membership. All the countries of the region must work together to realize these goals and bring their advantages,” Palmer noted.
“Regional cooperation and economic integration are vital if aspirant states hope to push back the limits to their economies, counter the malign influences that would keep them undemocratic, and reverse the trend of youth seeking better opportunities abroad,” he added.
In terms of economic reforms, he said the region must reform the energy sector, which would not only bring economic benefits, but strengthen regional economic security, seeing that the region is losing a significant number of highly skilled workers.
“In addition to economy, citizens in the region are most concerned about corruption. Anti-corruption is the basis for preserving and strengthening democracy. When political leaders steal from the citizens of their country, and undermine the rule of law and independent judiciary, economic growth slows down, inequality spreads, as well as inequality in access to services. Therefore, reforms shouldn’t be designed only to revive the economy post-COVID-19. They must also be aimed at strengthening democratic institutions to make them more independent and transparent,” Palmer said.
He reiterated a recent statement by the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, concluding that the EU must stand by its commitments to the region.
“This includes advancing the accession process of North Macedonia and Albania, and enabling visa liberalization for Kosovo,” said Palmer.
The international conference “Western Balkans: The missing puzzle for completing Europe” is taking place on Thursday and Friday in Ohrid and Otheshevo. Around 300 participants, regional leaders and top European and U.S. officials, including prime ministers, presidents, ministers, secretaries-general of international organizations, MEPs, and representatives of the civil society sector are set to take part. Over a hundred domestic and foreign reporters are accredited to cover the event.
Transatlantic relations will also be discussed at Friday’s high-level panel, focusing on resetting the EU-US synergy towards the Western Balkans.
