Foreign Officials Support Open Balkan Initiative During Summit in Ohrid

European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said on June 8 that the Open Balkan Initiative could be an opportunity for the region to step up accession to the European Union (EU).

“I believe that the Open Balkan is not only a good idea, but an opportunity for the region to change its reality and overcome the challenges it’s facing. The initiative may be an opportunity to accelerate the region’s integration into the Union,” Varhelyi said during the Open Balkan Summit in Ohrid, North Macedonia. The EU commissioner said that he was glad when he first heard about the idea of a Mini-Schengen, i.e. Open Balkan, because the important achievement had come from within the region, not the EU or the U.S.

Oliver Varhelyi (BETAPHOTO/NORTH MACEDONIA GOVERNMENT)

A special U.S. envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said on June 8 that his country supported the Open Balkans as an economic initiative launched to create broader opportunities for the people in the region.

Garriel Escobar (BETAPHOTO/NORTH MACEDONIA GOVERNMENT)

“The U.S. supports the Open Balkan as an economic initiative. It’s not a political project, but an important economic project, and it’s important that it remains one and that we focus on creating new opportunities for the people in the region,” Escobar said in a video address to the Open Balkan Summit in Ohrid.