The leaders of the Western Balkans during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, confirmed that they want to strengthen bilateral co-operation, especially with Montenegro.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic is attending Davos meetings for the first time as the country’s prime minister. He has also held separate meetings with all Western Balkan leaders.
A joint summit of leaders took place at a panel entitled “Diplomacy Dialogue for the Western Balkans”, which was held behind closed doors on May 25th.
As announced by the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, this panel aimed to help promote regional cooperation and build new international partnerships.
The Government of Montenegro said that the meeting discussed how the Government and business can work together to strengthen the stability of the region and secure its ties with key partners at a time when geopolitical risk is growing.
In addition to Kurti and Abazovic, the panel was attended by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, the President of Northern Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, the EU Special Representative for Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak and others.
Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania were not present at the panel. The forum in Davos is being held from May 23 to 26, after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
So far, no bilateral meeting has been reported between Kurti and Vucic.
Meanwhile, on May 24, Kurti and Abazovic, during a meeting in Davos, agreed that in the fall, the governments of the two countries will hold a joint meeting.
“I congratulated him on his new post as Prime Minister of Montenegro. We discussed cooperation and the intention to further increase development and investment, especially in the infrastructure needed for the Deçan-Plava and Peja-Rozhaja connections,” Kurti wrote on Twitter.
Also met w/ @DritanAbazovic & I congratulated him on his new role as PM of ??. We discussed cooperation w/ the aim of further development & increased investments, especially on the needed infrastructure for Deçan-Plavë & Pejë-Rozhajë connections. We agreed for a G2G this autumn. pic.twitter.com/sXsTAnQ1eT
— Albin Kurti (@albinkurti) May 24, 2022
Abozovic said the two leaders had pledged to work on developing infrastructure projects that would improve ties between the two countries and contribute to economic development.
Meanwhile, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic invited Abazovic to join the next meeting of the regional initiative “Open Balkans”, to be held in Ohrid, northern Macedonia.
“Another great opportunity to discuss bilateral issues with Dritan Abazovic during the World Economic Forum, but also to invite him once again to join us in the meeting of the ‘Open Balkans’ initiative in Ohrid,” Vucic said through a Instagram post.
The “Open Balkans” initiative is a continuation of the Balkan “mini-Schengen”, presented in Novi Sad, Serbia on October 10, 2019, by the leaders of Serbia, Northern Macedonia and Albania.
When the “Open Balkans” initiative was introduced, then Montenegro with the Government of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), refused to participate in this regional initiative.
However, the new Prime Minister, Dritan Abazovic, supports the concept of this initiative. Abazovic expressed support for the initiative during an interview with Klan Kosova on May 11th.
Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina do not support this initiative.
After meeting with the Serbian president, Abazovic said his country is making efforts to promote a policy of regional co-operation, reconciliation, coexistence and better economic cohesion in the Western Balkans.
“Relations with Serbia are a priority – we are ready for intensive cooperation in all areas of common interest,” Abazovic wrote on his Twitter account.
#MNE?? ulaže maksimalne napore da se na Zapadnom Balkanu promoviše politika regionalne saradnje, pomirenja, suživota, bolje ekonomske povezanosti.
Odnosi sa ?? prioritetni – spremni smo na intezivnu saradnju u svim oblastima od zajedničkog interesa. Sastanak na @wef sa @avucic. pic.twitter.com/QhCu7EA8uV
— Dr Dritan Abazovic (@DritanAbazovic) May 25, 2022
Meanwhile, the President of Northern Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, talked with Abazovic about the economic potentials and opportunities for deepening relations between the two countries.
“Close cooperation within NATO, which we will extend to the EU integration process, as a common strategic goal,” Pendarovski said in a Twitter post.
The Macedonian President also held talks with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.
In a meeting with the Serbian president, the two leaders welcomed the decision of the Serbian Orthodox Church to recognize the Autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
