North Macedonia hosts West Balkan leaders for summit on EU growth plan

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - North Macedonia hosted the leaders of Western Balkan countries in the capital Skopje on Monday for a summit of the Open Balkan initiative and a Western Balkans-European Union summit on the EU growth plan for the region.

"We aim to discuss the Western Balkans growth plan. This plan represents a truly concrete action of the EU in terms of increasing regional cooperation between states and also their inclusion in the common European market," said North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said any assistance that can be provided to companies and businesses is important.

"I believe that our meeting today and the meeting we held last night are important for the progress and development of the entire region. I spoke with EU and US officials about the growth plan. We will continue the talks today,'' said Vucic.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said access to the European market is envisaged and that this was previously only possible for EU members.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, James O'Brien, said he welcomed the achievements of the growth plan.

The meeting was also attended by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, European Commission Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Koopman and the chairwoman of Bosnia's Council of Ministers, Borjana Kristo.