Open Balkan: Objectives and Justifications

Abstract

The paper discusses Open Balkan, an initiative led by Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The starting point is a review of the historical developments of regional initiatives since 1996, which reveals the process tendencies such as ownership transfer from the EU to the region, overlapping goals among initiatives, and an agenda shift from fundamental to more comprehensive and progressive targets. The central argument of the paper is that while the founders of Open Balkan remain committed to the Berlin Process and RCC, they emphasize that the project is not dependent on the EU, implying that the Open Balkan project is not yet another ownership transfer to the local countries. Additionally, while the paper does not discard the possibility that the project is just political theatre, it suggests that the “race to Europe” fatigue accompanied by domestic issues might indeed pressure the three leaderships to explore an innovative approach.