Eurasia Press & News
The regional summit held near Prizren, at which the presidents of Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro were in attendance, focused mainly on free travel.
Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said that there is an initiative for forming a mini-Schengen zone for free movement throughout the Balkans.
Sejdiu said that freedom of movement is a very important process in the region, according to local media in Kosovo.
“The main topic was related to the processes for free movement. We are nearing the end of the project, which was presented earlier, to have the Balkan Schengen show our maturity,” Sejdiu said.
He said that regional cooperation is also important for the fight against organized crime.
Albanian President Bamir Topi said that it is time for Albanian and Kosovo citizens to be able to travel freely in Europe.
“We talked a lot about the freedom of movement for people. Macedonia and Montenegro have received that status, and we are happy about that. Albania is on the doorstep of receiving this status and I see that my colleagues are just as happy about that,” Topi said.
Regarding regional cooperation, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said that Skopje and Priština have signed seven bilateral agreements and are expected to sign five more.
Montenegrin President Filip Vujanović said that freedom of movement is key to European integration.
He added that the positive effects of these regional summits are continuing to show signs of progress.
According to the statement issued by the Kosovo government, the officials of Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro showed good will for improving bilateral relations and improving regional cooperation.
