Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Ministers of Albania and Serbia, Edi Rama and Ana Brnabić signed on Monday a memorandum of cooperation to regulate relations between the countries in times of the COVID-19 crisis.
Health ministers of the three countries also took part in the online coordination meeting as part of mini-Schengen initiative.
Under the memorandum of cooperation, the citizens of North Macedonia, Serbia and Albania will be able to cross the border without PCR tests, if a citizen who contracts COVID-19 will need hospitalization, the host state will cover the cost of treatment, health ministers and doctors from the three countries will cooperate and exchange experiences in the fight against COVID-19…
PM Zoran Zaev, who hosted the video conference, said that the memorandum paves the way for even stronger cooperation between our friendly countries.
“We want to facilitate the lives of our citizens and lay the foundations for economic recovery,” Zaev added.
North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, as he said, will immediately start coordinating to provide COVID-19 vaccine for the citizens, adding that countries will support each other in case healthcare systems will be overloaded.
“We are opening green corridors for free movement of our citizens and economic operators which alleviate the effects of the COVID-19. The citizens and suppliers of good will cross borders of the three countries without PCR tests while respecting all health protection measures that are almost identical in all three countries,” Zaev said.
If a citizen of one of the three countries, who contracts COVID-19 will need hospitalization, then, as he explained, the country in which citizen is being treated, will cover the costs of treatment.
Moreover, an agreement between Albania and Serbia for free movement of their citizens with ID cards only was also signed today.
“For several years now, the citizens of North Macedonia have been travelling to Albania and Serbia with ID cards. I welcome today’s agreement between Albania and Serbia on free movement of their citizens with ID cars only. That kind of agreements which are in the interest of the citizens strengthen the regional cooperation,” Zaev said.
Zaev voiced satisfaction that Kosovo has accepted the invitation to join mini-Schengen initiative, expressing hope that Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina will also join very soon.
“I am very happy and proud to have signed the memorandum of understanding in the fight against the coronavirus. The important thing is that we will introduce measures together and that we decided that our experts and medical teams should talk and cooperate, building trust to help our people,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said.
He added that “it’s important to show how much we care about the health of our people and continue strengthening our trade and all other forms of cooperation, including vaccination and development of green transport lines.”
“It is important for us to try to decide on the future of our citizens and to show that we can preserve our independence and make our own decisions, especially with those in our neighborhood. That is why I am happy for signing these agreements. I believe that we can achieve a lot by further simplifying procedures and additional cooperation and increasing the flow of goods,” Vučić said.
“We have formally resolved all obstacles for our citizens to be able to enter North Macedonia and Albania with ID cards alone and vice versa,” he said, adding that this would bring the three countries closer politically and deepen the trust and good relations between Tirana, Skopje and Belgrade.
Albanian PM Edi Rama assessed that the memorandum is a very positive step when it comes to the easier movement of the citizens and the fight against the pandemic, especially when it comes to the exchange of information about the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the Sofia Summit, which starts on Tuesday, a new phase of our close cooperation begins. Kosovo will join the mini-Schengen initiative and I hope that other Western Balkan countries will also join the initiative so that we can all work together for a better future. At the Sofia Summit we need to reiterate our commitment to the expansion of the green zone towards European countries and our common position towards the EU regarding the new green deal that we all accept,” Rama noted.
He concluded that there is no other way for a better future for the three countries than mutual cooperation and joint efforts in the EU accession process.
