The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, indirectly responded to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, who during his speech at the Summit of Western Balkans and EU leaders held in Montenegro, called for Serbia to hand over Milan Radojić and his paramilitary group in Kosovo.
Vučić expressed that “someone has nothing to say about the economy, but only gives political lectures.”
“It will be very easy for me to respond politically to the people here who cannot say anything about the economy and have never said anything about it, but are always ready to give political lectures to everyone, not just me. It would be incomprehensible, it would be best to avoid this,” said Vučić.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, on his part declared that: “the green fast lines make sense without little green men, so I ask Serbia to hand over Milan Radojić and other paramilitaries who killed police officer Afrim Bunjaku on September 24, 2023.”
Meanwhile, criticism for political issues during the Summit was also made by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama.
“On one hand, we talk about big things and want to be acceptable as EU member states, but we continue to block ourselves, this makes no sense. We must leave politics and bilateral issues out of this space, because if we do everything in a European style, it will also facilitate the atmosphere for bilateral issues,” emphasized Rama.
In recent months, ministerial meetings and regional summits of Western Balkans leaders have been held in Skopje and Tirana.
In these meetings, leaders and ministers from the region and representatives from the European Union and the United States have discussed the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which includes six billion euros in grants and loans to accelerate socio-economic convergence with the European Union.
At the Tirana summit, hosted by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, other regional leaders also participated: the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, and the Chair of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Kristo.
Kosovo was not represented at this meeting, as Prime Minister Albin Kurti was not physically present. His non-participation was justified by Kurti having “prior commitments”. However, he addressed the participants through a video message. The same was done by the Montenegrin Prime Minister.
The EU’s plan for the Western Balkans aims to boost the region’s economic growth, accelerate necessary reforms, and make investments that can advance the EU enlargement process with these countries.
A similar summit for this plan was held on January 22, 2024, in Skopje, North Macedonia.
The new plan for economic growth in the Western Balkans, approved by the European Commission on November 8, 2023, is based on four pillars, writes Kallxo.
The first pillar is “strengthening economic integration in the EU single market.”
