Representatives of green political organizations in six countries of the Western Balkans, who gathered at a conference in Sarajevo, signed today the Declaration on the establishment of a Platform for Cooperation in which they promised to work together to build lasting peace in the Balkans.
The signatories of the declaration are the Albanian Green Party, “Hoćemo” from Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Orah” from Croatia, “Ura” from Montenegro, “Dom” from North Macedonia and “Zajedno” from Serbia.
One of the signatories is the green party Hoćemo from Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Amna Popovac.
As they stated today, they want to achieve this goal by working together to protect the environment, ensure stability and security, protect human rights and fight against organized crime, all of which can only be ensured with a regional approach.
The co-chair of the green party from Bosnia and Herzegovina “Hoćemo” Amna Popovac pointed out that these political parties have had enough of division and building walls, but now they want to build bridges.
A member of the Presidency of the United Reform Action (URA) from Montenegro, Milijana Vukotić-Jelusić, said that the countries of the Western Balkans have the most beautiful part of the globe, which is the greenest, bluest, hilliest and most forested, which is why it is a common obligation to preserve this area.
As the president of Green Alternative “Orah” from Croatia, Zorislav Antun Petrović, said, environmental protection in the broadest sense knows no borders and without cross-border cooperation, it will be very difficult to make this part of the world better for its inhabitants.
He expressed a belief that the green time is coming and that there is no salvation for the planet unless there is an urgent turnaround and consistent implementation of green policies, and this is the first step to raise awareness of this among the citizens of the Western Balkans.
The president of the Green Party “Dom” from North Macedonia, Maja Moračanin, says that the goal is to make the region more prosperous because what we all in the region have witnessed in the past is intolerance and wars, which must remain in the past.
The co-president of the political party “Zajedno” from Serbia, Nebojša Zelenović, points out that these parties believe in the common European future of this region and believe that all countries should become full members of the European Union, adding that one road is faster than six roads.
When asked how to change the consciousness of people who still vote for political parties that tend to divide, Zelenović says that as long as people who are involved in politics get votes for hatred, and not for real solutions, the situation will not change.
The way to that, he believes, is an international conference where the current leaders of all six countries of the Western Balkans would meet, where they would agree on all open topics in order to preserve the states and adhere to the principle of not changing borders.
The signatories of the Declaration claim that with this act they will further strengthen the cooperation they already have with the green parties, and through the European Green Party they intend to develop policies that will enable the living environment to be as healthy as possible.
