FLASH
Shkruar nga Ben Andoni
Kosovo denied it, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina had some kind of retreat, but in the last weeks, the "Balkan Open" was forgotten, until Rama suddenly announced the end and the start of the mention of the "Berlin Process", which was almost forgotten. ..
There is a large part of people who write and prophesy about the end of the "Balkan Open", after Rama's statement about the closure of this initiative. Many have referred to historical Balkan relations but also to the myopia of their organizers!! As it has always been known that our regional initiatives, the relations between our countries, have not been that long. In socialism, maybe there was an opportunity from the socialist system (we are talking about another geographical area), but the Informburoja once upset many balances.
"Balkan Open" closed the mission initially due to the saturation of the people who initiated it. A secretariat had to function, there had to be an administration, so that the politicians' statements and promises could be implemented and, above all, there had to be funds. Meanwhile, in our countries, but understandably mostly in the Albanian part, a large number of "non-dependents" accused that Serbia was gaining economic supremacy and was developing all its capacities at the expense of two other countries: Albania and North Macedonia. Rama, Vučič and Zaev (Kovačevski), the leaders who should have carried the spirit more, wasted their time by anathemaing the countries that did not accept and "approached" Kosovo, which in turn denied this initiative, but on the other hand strengthened the potential of Serbian exports to Kosovo, compared to Albanian ones.
The four basic freedoms that "Balkan Open" was supposed to deliver freed our relations to some extent, although they were very similar to the basic principles of the Berlin Process, but the federal unit Republika Srpska, denying visas to Kosovo, proved rather fragile it's everything. And some of our countries in the Balkans already travel only with ID, even before this initiative.
"Balkan Open" also faced the strength and shadow of the Berlin Process itself. Thanks to the latter, a slight improvement of the railway system has started in the region (327 kilometers), 560 km of 400 kV lines were added, 123 with renewable energy and we have a total of 176 km of pipelines. Adding here also support for thousands of businesses. For its part, the "Balkan Open" could not generate so many things, while the biggest blow was received from the ambiguous speech of various European and United States officials, who constantly looked down on it. Listen to good pronouncements of ambassadors and paradoxes of personalities of their countries.
Chancellor Merkel openly snubbed "Open Balkans" in Tirana and Belgrade. European Commission President von Der Leyen did almost the same. Escobar made it even more confusing: (a) the goal of the Open Balkans should not be regional cooperation, but integration into European structures, (b) the Open Balkans is an economic project and cannot be a political project, (c) to avoid duplication with existing initiatives, and (d) ensure full inclusion. Ambassador Hill appreciated it in turn.
Kosovo denied it, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina had some kind of retreat, but in the last weeks, the "Balkan Open" was forgotten, until Rama suddenly announced the end and the start of the mention of the "Berlin Process", which was almost forgotten. In the last few hours, defending the "Balkan Open", Rama would say from Skopje to a journalist: "You ask the question as if I have made a mistake, from which I have learned a lesson. Open Balkan 1000 times, if I could go back, I would do it again 1000 times. It is one of the 72 initiatives in this region. What harm has come from the Open Balkans to the Region apart from the good. Take a look at the trade figures between countries and remember what is done cannot be undone.
Even the Berlin Process has benefited from the impetus of the Open Balkans. I do not understand how there are still doubts about this when the facts speak clearly. Whoever did not participate in the Open Balkans made a mistake for himself".
But who needs this pleasure of ending prematurely?! An initiative, which had quite a few supporters, is now archived, giving some fuel to many Balkans, who do not want anything to go towards peace from the Balkans themselves.
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