Secretary General of the Council for Regional Cooperation Majlinda Bregu participated in the summit of the leaders of the Western Balkans in Tirana.
In a joint statement from the conference “Growth and rapprochement of the six economies of the Western Balkans”, which was held today in Tirana, the leaders of the six economies of the Western Balkans praised the work of the Council for Regional Cooperation, underlined the region’s commitment to integration and emphasized enhanced cooperation with the European Union.
“It is high time to define the future of our region, which is currently working on two parallel fields. The first relates to work on internal reforms that bring us closer to the European Union, while the second concerns the deepening of mutual regional economic integration, which is a condition for joining the EU single market,” she said.
According to her, the way of working in the field of implementing domestic reforms has been clearly established by the European Union, while work in the other field is ongoing and includes the new phase of the Action Plan for a common regional market, “which we are currently preparing in cooperation with all regional partners”.
“Establishing a functional common regional market in the Western Balkans is a prerequisite for integration with the single market of the European Union. Now is the time to think outside the usual framework about what comes next, how we will deepen and expand cooperation in the region, what we can achieve together so that in a few years, we can ask the European Union for access to that special area,” said Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General of the Council for Regional Cooperation.
She also emphasized the need to avoid institutional overlaps, given the enormous work involved in implementing domestic reform programs in the region as well as the Action Plan for a common regional market, and emphasized the necessity of achieving synergy and alignment of all actors.
In the joint statement of the leaders, it is emphasized that the European Union’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans is crucial for accession and integration into the EU single market, as well as for accelerating reforms – RCC announced.
The leaders recognized the importance of the conclusions of the chairman’s summit within the framework of the Berlin process held on October 16, 2023 in Tirana, emphasizing the importance of regional cooperation, and especially the economic and social transformative potential of the common regional market, for exploiting the economic and social potential of the region as well as for preparing for a gradual entry into the single market.
The meeting of the leaders of the Western Balkans in Tirana is a continuation of the meeting held last month in Skopje, which shows the persistence and commitment of the region to the implementation of the European Union Growth Plan.
A day earlier, the leaders of the Western Balkans met with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, and discussed deepening cooperation between the region and Ukraine.
