Rama heads to Belgrade for Open Balkans, Zaev absent

This summit, unlike those last ones, will not find northern Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev at the side of Albanian counterpart Edi Rama and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq.

The seat of Zoran Zaev resigned several days ago will be occupied by Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov.

As in past meetings of this format, Vuciq, Rama and Dimitrov on the first day of the summit will take a walk in downtown Belgrade.

The second day of the meeting will begin with a meeting of business representatives and later with those of the Atlantic Council to leave the country with a trilateral meeting.

What Vuciq, Rama and Dimitrov will agree to at this meeting will declare at a joint press conference.

Even this upcoming meeting finds the Balkan initiative open without Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Meanwhile, several days ago, clear and supportive positions for the initiative came from Washington.

Gabriel Escobar Deputy Assistant Secretary of State said a few days ago: “The leaders of the three countries that have examined the Open Balkans initiative have assured us that it is open to all six countries in the Western Balkans, and we trust them. In fact, it cannot succeed without the other three countries. The Open Balkans Initiative also reflects something from the Berlin Process, called the joint regional market, so we think they are complementary, we think that anything that brings the countries closer will create confidence among people, while also creating opportunities for political movements for some of the” issues. /Tch