“The Open Balkan Initiative has a political basis and direction, and that being the EU. The political goal of the Open Balkan is for all the Western Balkans countries to become EU members.

There is no other idea, vision or goal”, said Marjan Zabrcanec, National Coordinator for Open Balkan at the Government of North Macedonia, at the conference “Regional Initiatives of the Western Balkans, chances and misconceptions”, organized by the Center for Civic Education from Podgorica in Montenegro.

He added that the Open Balkan Initiative is complementary to the Berlin process and the process of EU integration, as it is an initiative that promotes European freedoms.

“The Open Balkan has tangible results, recognized by the citizens and the business sector. Support for the initiative in polls is 70 percent, among all demographic groups. We have an almost national consensus for this initiative. There is no other policy in North Macedonia that has greater support than the Open Balkan”, said Zabrcanec.

The Open Balkan has been a maximally inclusive process for all stakeholders since the beginning and has remained open also for other countries of the Western Balkans, highlighted Zabrcanec, and constantly insists on the “AND-AND” principle, rather than the “Either-Or” principle in the inclusion of other countries and in the implementation of policies in favor of all citizens from the region.

He added that through the Open Balkan Initiative – North Macedonia, Serbia and Albania help each other to more easily overcome the current and all future crises.