Skopje, 22 January 2024 (MIA) - North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski is hosting a leaders' meeting on the EC's Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, set to take place in Skopje on Monday.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Albanian PM Edi Rama, Montenegrin PM Milojko Spajić, Kosovo PM Albin Kurti, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Minister of Finance and Treasury Srđan Amidžić, as well as Director General at the Directorate General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Gert Jan Koopman, and US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O'Brien, will participate in the meeting, the Government said in a press release.

Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj, Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi and their Western Balkan counterparts will also attend the meeting. In addition, the meeting will bring together representatives of regional organizations, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), CEFTA and the Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF), as well as international financial institutions.

PM Kovachevski and the President of Serbia, the Prime Ministers of Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo, as well as Director General at the Directorate General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Gert Jan Koopman, and US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O'Brien are set to give statements to the media before the start of the meeting.

Following the statements to the media, the meeting of the Western Balkan leaders will take place, including a video address by Borjana Krišto, the chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A joint press conference of the leaders is scheduled for 12:15 pm.

Late on Sunday, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski welcomed the leaders from the region who will participate in today's meeting in Skopje.

“Ahead of tomorrow's leaders’ meeting in Skopje, focused on the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans endorsed by the European Commission, tonight, in a friendly atmosphere with leaders from the Western Balkans, we reiterated our stance on the region's integration into the EU. The place for all countries in the region is within the EU, and we have the necessary leadership potential to make brave decisions for a better future. Unity and stability are needed by all of us - both in the Western Balkans and in Europe,” Kovachevski wrote on Facebook.

On 8 November 2023, the European Commission adopted a new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, with the aim of bringing the Western Balkan partners closer to the EU through offering some of the benefits of EU membership to the region in advance of accession, boosting economic growth and accelerating socio-economic convergence.

The new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans is based on four pillars, aimed at: enhancing economic integration with the European Union’s single market, boosting economic integration within the Western Balkans through the Common Regional Market, accelerating fundamental reforms, and increasing financial assistance to support the reforms through a Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans for the period 2024-2027, a proposal for a new instrument worth €6 billion, consisting of €2 billion in grants and €4 billion in concessional loans, with payment conditioned on the Western Balkans’ partners fulfilling specific socio-economic and fundamental reforms.

The Plan identifies seven initial priority areas, which the EU could offer to the Western Balkan countries: 1) free movement of goods, 2) free movement of services and workers, 3) access to the Single Euro Payments Area, 4) facilitation of road transport, 5) integration and de-carbonisation of energy markets, 6) Digital Single Market and 7) integration into industrial supply chains.

Half of the funds, about €3 billion in the form of long-term loans, will be released as direct support to the national budgets, and the other half will be allocated through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), in the form of €2 billion in grants and €1 billion in loans.

These funds will be geared towards investments in the field of transport, energy, digitalization, education and skill development, whereby 37% of the grants will be focused on green projects, i.e. fulfilling the climate objectives. Payments will be made twice per year in line with the fulfilment of the social and economic reforms by the countries.

Photo: MIA archive