‘The Open Balkan Initiatives Must Prove Itself’

Albanian Daily News: At the outset, allow me, Your Excellency, to welcome You to Albanian Daily News in this conversation looking forward to the further diversification of cooperation between our daily and Your Embassy so that our readers can learn more on North Macedonia events in different fields as well as its relations with Albania. In this spirit, please how would you assess the relations between Albania and North Macedonia, two neighboring countries which are also members of NATO and EU aspirants?

Macedonian Ambassador Dancho Markovski: Allow me at the beginning of our conversation to thank you for the opportunity for this conversation. Albanian Daly News is a newspaper that with its content is especially read by foreign diplomats accredited in Albania.

The relations between the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Albania in the previous years have continuously marked a very intense level of bilateral cooperation in all fields. The intensity of the meetings held between the officials from both sides created a state of daily direct communication and friendship which is an excellent basis for building relations free from open issues. Proof to that is also the level of the existing framework agreements between the two countries that regulate relations in several areas.

Without a doubt, North Macedonia and Albania with their policies in the past few years have been actively generating stability in the region, and that’s why it is of crucial importance for the international community, and especially the European Union, to recognize and support this trend, which is in line with its foreign policy towards the Western Balkans.

-As a follow-up, Mr. Ambassador, Albania, and North Macedonia have entered a new phase of their bilateral relations which is expressed in the initiative of joint government meetings. Which are the expectations from such a new way of cooperation between the two countries? Will it contribute to turning a new leaf regarding economic and trade cooperation?

If we look at the current legal framework, opportunities, and capacities of both economies, trade is still at an unsatisfactory level. Albania is not on the list of the 20 countries with which North Macedonia has the largest volume of trade. The total reach of trade exchange of about 180 million euros (January – November) 2021 indicates that the increase is still far from the desired level. The blame for this situation is mutual. A condition that must change. On the Macedonian side, concrete efforts are being made through direct involvement of the chambers of commerce to provide companies better access to the market. My team at the Embassy and I are making great efforts to change this situation and I am convinced that we will succeed.

At this year’s International Fair in Tirana, which was visited and by the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Economic Affairs, Fatmir Bytyqi, who was in the function of concrete consideration of a number of specific issues of bilateral interest in order to expand and deepen economic and trade cooperation.

The need to intensify the concrete cooperation between the two chambers, in order to break the existing stereotypes from the past, and to create modern conditions in which the economic entities from both sides will find their interest, is more than necessary.

The implementation of the new facilitation regulations regarding the crossing of borders, ease of customs procedures, and other administrative regulations aimed at real support to the business sector are expected soon. To summarize, I expect a new better and promising chapter of our economic relations in the nearest future.

-Mr. Markovski, you might have been asked dozens of times on issues related to the progress of the EU integration process of North Macedonia and the important step of the opening of the intergovernmental negotiations of the Union with your country and Albania. Are there hopes for North Macedonia and Bulgaria, where a new government is expected to be formed, to overcome their differences leading to the unfreezing of the accession negotiations between the EU and Skopje because of the Bulgarian veto?

The foreign policy of the Republic of North Macedonia is based on an active approach to building friendly relations and mutual respect, especially with our immediate neighbors. In the past 30 years of independence, we have managed to establish ourselves as a serious entity in the international community.

Of course, the path we took was sometimes difficult and unjust, but that did not discourage us from achieving our goal. The willingness to resolve open issues through dialogue has proven to be the only possible way in building good neighborly relations.

North Macedonia, like few other countries in the region, has no open issues in terms of international law, whether it refers to the state borderline or the consequences of the wars fought in Yugoslavia. The problems we faced were from the political sphere and they were not part of the international law and customs.

To our general will, we managed to overcome the dispute with Greece. The agreement signed in Prespa has become a synonym for resolving disputes. The agreement received a lot of publicity in the international community. In his recent visit to the Hellenic Republic, His Holiness, Pope Francis did not miss the opportunity to emphasize the importance of this document.

Today we have an active dialogue and cooperation with Greece. The security of the Macedonian sky, within the NATO cooperation, is in the competencies of friendly Greece, something that ten years ago was unthinkable to mention.

Hence, I am convinced that we will also be able to find a solution with the neighboring Republic of Bulgaria. The so-far mutual contribution to our relations and cooperation are too big to be set aside. We are in constant dialogue with our Bulgarian colleagues in order to find a mutually acceptable and dignified solution, which will be in the interest not only of the two countries and the two nations, but also in the interest of the policies of the EU and US towards our region

North Macedonia has managed to build a multiethnic society that is a positive example in the region. We strive to fully implement European values. The principle of an equal society for all implies the fulfillment of a high degree of human rights for every citizen, a direction towards which the modern world should move.

-As a follow-up, Your Excellency, there have been suggestions for Albania to start the negotiations if Sofia continues to pursue its blocking stance towards North Macedonia. What do you think about such a move?

If we speak honestly about the EU enlargement policy in the Western Balkans, of course, it is much more convenient for the process to be implemented together with both countries.

This is the right way for the Union to fulfill its commitments in this important region towards which other international players aspire. As a reminder in the past 3-4 years, we had different gradations for one or the other country in their readiness.

One thing is for sure, getting the date for the first intergovernmental conference is just a confirmation of a purchased ticket to enter the European train. It is a totally different issue, the question of the readiness for opening and closing of the chapters, or the time of the arrival at the certain destination, in this case for both countries, the EU membership.

-In the meantime, as the entire world, both Albania and North Macedonia continue to be gripped by the Covid plague. As new variants of the virus are appearing, how is your country coping with the situation, and secondly, is there room for more cooperation with Albania and other regional countries in this field?
The world is facing a deadly epidemic of unprecedented proportions. The problems created by Covid-19 directly affected the daily lives of people, disrupting the normal course of the economy, creating crises in many countries, many of which are much stronger and more developed than North Macedonia and Albania.

What the Macedonian health authorities are doing as an imperative is to implement the measures and recommendations of the World Health Organization. We strive to increase the number of vaccinated people as much as possible and to raise the awareness of the population for adherence to the protection measures. North Macedonia and Albania cooperate in this field as well, and the Ministers of Health maintain personal communication.

-Our talk on bilateral but regional cooperation, too, leads me to learn more from you, Mr. Ambassador, on the Open Balkan initiative as a top diplomat in Tirana representing a country that has joined the project. In your view, what is its positive impact on the region, and in the long run do you expect that the other regional countries will join it?

The Open Balkans Initiative has met with divided opinions and assessments. Some of the opponents of the initiative see it primarily from a political point of view, emphasizing some hegemonic danger by one of the three (at this moment) states. An attitude that can hardly be defended because joining the initiative is voluntary. No one is forcing anyone. On the argument that this initiative could jeopardize domestic production and the market be flooded with products from another country, I would ask the next question.

If the economies of North Macedonia, Albania, and Serbia are afraid of each other, then what are we really looking for in a European market that is much more developed and more competitive. On the contrary, the Open Balkans should be seen as an immediate opportunity for further regulation of the free movement of people, goods, or for the removal of administrative obstacles faced by companies, be it customs and border controls, or the issuance of the necessary certificates and so on.

I see the initiative as an antipode to various bureaucratic rules of a bygone era, of isolated states.

Why should it be a problem for the countries in the region not to be able to develop economic-trade relations, such as the Scandinavian countries?

Finally, the Open Balkan initiative itself will have to show whether it is successful or not in just over a year. That is what the companies will tell. I am convinced that the upcoming meeting at the end of this December will be another step in the implementation of this initiative.

-In May this year the Cultural Center of North Macedonia has opened in Tirana thanks to an accord on the reciprocal establishment of such centers in Skopje and Tirana. It’s too soon to ask about activities of your cultural center, but could you tell how such an endeavor will promote bilateral relations, and particularly people-to-people exchanges?

North Macedonia in its relations with Albania is largely focused on all areas of cooperation, especially in the field of culture and education. The opening of the Cultural Information Center in Tirana practically showed our interest in enriching the cultural cooperation and connecting the citizens of the two countries.

The basic postulate according to which I am guided in my daily work is aimed at creating a new image of my country in the eyes of the Albanian public. In the following period, numerous events will take place in which artists from both sides will participate.

What I am personally interested in is reaching a higher level of cultural cooperation through co-production projects with which artists from both countries will jointly perform in the region and beyond in Europe. I am especially pleased with the cooperation of the Ministries of Culture, both bilaterally and internationally.

The mutual interest for further improvement of the cooperation in the field of education was a topic that the two ministers of Education discussed at the beginning of this year.

The bilateral cooperation agreement offers great opportunities in the field of higher education institutions in terms of exchange of students, professors, recognition of diplomas or organization of joint activities.

On this occasion I would like to emphasize the last meeting of the deans of the Faculty of Pedagogy at St. “Kliment Ohridski” from Bitola and the University “Fan S. Noli” from Korça, who agreed on joint cooperation, as well as the opening of a Macedonian Language Lectorate in Korça.

This will enable Albanian students and Macedonian national minority in Albania to expand their knowledge of the modern Macedonian language. The lectorate should be seen more broadly in the readiness of Albania for equal care for the members of the minorities, in accordance with the adopted Law which regulates their rights.

-To conclude, Mr. Ambassador, let me touch upon a personal matter. Have you ever been to Albania before and in any case, what is your opinion on your neighboring people, its history, traditions, culture, and its perspective on tourism?

My first arrival in Albania was in the distant year 1997 which gives me the chance to see the real progress that this friendly country has made. Albania is becoming a very interesting destination for Macedonian tourists. According to the official statistic this year from January till October, 478,000 citizens from North Macedonia were registered to have visited or used their annual vacation in the Albanian coast. This influx of Macedonian visitors certainly creates opportunities for creating a friendly relationship and getting acquainted with the Albanian culture and customs.

Thank You!
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