Expert on Open Balkan Initiative: Cooperation Is Good, but all Must Be Engaged  

Florian Bieber (prinstcreen: YouTube

Commenting on the Open Balkan initiative, a professor at the University of Graz, Florian Bieber, has said that the idea of regional cooperation is not bad, but that problems exist not all Western Balkan countries are engaged.

“The idea of regional cooperation is not bad, any form of cooperation is welcome, but there are problems as not all are engaged and without the engagement of the entire Western Balkans, cooperation is problematic,” Bieber told TV N1 in the evening on Dec. 20.

Another problem, according to the professors, are the issues surrounding the intentions of the leaders that had started the initiative, (Edi) Rama (Albanian Prime Minister) and (Aleksandar) Vucic (Serbian President), explaining that it is not clear who will dominate and why there is a new framework when cooperation frameworks are already in place.

Bieber added that there were doubts that their motives were regional cooperation and good neighborly relations. “We see through their actions that they have been raising tension in the region, and in that context I cannot believe that they advocate good cooperation. And their intentions are more in the form of propaganda aimed at selling it to the West – we are good, we are partners and thereby divert the attention away from crucial problems, which include the absence of democracy and the rule of law,” Bieber specified.

He went on to say that certain EU countries had blocked accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia, while Serbia’s EU integration progress had been slow due to internal politics of the incumbent government.

Speaking about an upcoming virtual conference of three leaders, to be also attended by EU Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, Bieber noted that Varhelyi did not enjoy EU’s full support as “it is clear that he has been mainly conducting the policy of (Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orban on the Western Balkans, which is not identical to that of the EU.”