Skopje, 14 October 2021 (MIA) – We support initiatives in which the European Union is involved from the start, instead of doing it without the EU. We support the common regional market and we believe it is the right way to move forward, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated Thursday in Skopje when asked whether he supports the Open Balkan initiative. Kurti, who is in Skopje to attend the Western Balkans Summit, organized by The Economist, said his country supports a new EU-mediated agreement, which will facilitate implementation of initiatives where the bloc itself is involved. “We believe it is much better if the EU is involved in all initiatives from the start instead of trying to do it without the EU. Also, I have to say I’m not in the group of people who believe the Balkans is enough on its own. I believe the EU is our destiny and Europe is our continent,” Kurti said at the forum titled “Promoting Europe’s Inclusiveness and Solidarity.” The PM urged that the countries in the region shouldn’t improvise, stressing that the region needs help from abroad. “Kosovo’s economy is already making progress, which is why we need EU’s assistance, we don’t need humanitarian aid like in the past, but development funds in order our institutions to be enhanced,” Kurti said. Addressing the Skopje forum, PM Kurti said the region needed functioning democracies and rule of law rather than autocracy and corruption. “We’ve been witnessing lack of respect of key democratic values and principles not only in the Western Balkans but also in the EU. In the bloc, such tendencies sometimes are called liberal democracy, while they call it unstable democracy in the Western Balkans. But, what they have in common is the basic rights and liberties being attacked, including freedom of speech and control of the press allowing propaganda and fake news to be spread, as well as control of the judiciary. It is the biggest threat to the stability in our region,” he said. The region, Kurti stressed, has to also face the past. “It’s not possible to move forward if the past is ignored.” “To deal with ethnic cleansing and bloodshed… that was wrong and if you don’t feel any responsibility for what had happened, it’s possible that you might do it again. After WWII, the European Union was built on the foundations of bearing responsibility and facing the past. We, in the Western Balkans, should follow that example,” PM Kurti said. The leaders of North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, Zoran Zaev, Edi Rama and Aleksandar Vucic respectively, in July promoted the Open Balkan initiative, calling it a new era in regional cooperation between the three countries. They also announced there will be no borders between their countries after Jan. 1, 2023, allowing free movement, and a common regional market ensuring better conditions and benefits for the citizens.