Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Friday met via videoconference with the leaders of Albania and Serbia, PM Edi Rama and President Aleksandar Vučić to discuss and reaffirm the initiative on improving regional cooperation as part of the Berlin Process, launched last year.
The three leaders concluded that the initiative is fully in accordance with the Berlin Process, which provides solid foundation for the upcoming summit of Western Balkan leaders in Sofia, MIA’s Belgrade correspondent reports citing a press release of Vučić’s office.
Activities as part of the initiative on improving regional cooperation were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the elections in North Macedonia and Serbia, held in the summer.
“The three leaders concurred the crisis has further highlighted the need to boost cooperation and regional economic integration, stressing that it is of key importance for the WB6 to fully join efforts in improving regional cooperation. Hence, they called on Pristina to join the initiative,” said the press release.
The invitation comes after a framework was defined in September in Washington by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.
“President Vučić and PMs Rama and Zaev agreed the establishment of a working group consisting of government officials from all participating countries in a bid to speed up the process of signing and implementing agreed activities as part of the initiative on improving regional cooperation,” said the press release.
At the meeting, they agreed that the initiative could be used to identify joint infrastructural projects aimed at regional development in line with the EU Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans.
The three leaders also voiced hope that the governments of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina soon could join the initiative focused on improved economic cooperation among all countries in the region.
