The Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the Western Balkans leaders’ meeting on the Growth Plan, held in Skopje, North Macedonia, under the theme “Stability, Unity, and the Future.”
He traveled last night to Skopje to attend the dinner with the participating leaders at the summit, hosted by the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Mickoski. Today, Prime Minister Kurti took part in the first panel discussion among the leaders on the topic “Growth Plan: Assessment, next steps, and communication.”
In his speech, he praised the European Union’s Growth Plan as an important step, emphasizing that the EU’s support for the countries of the region must align with their commitment to reforms, democratic progress, and shared European values. In this context, he requested that Kosovo be guaranteed equal access to the EU’s programs and instruments.
Kurti reaffirmed Kosovo’s support for the EU initiatives within the Growth Plan, including tourism, consumer protection, and the “Common Market Highway,” while proposing three additional sectors with cooperation potential: competitive digital services including software development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and structured technologies; the defense sector; and the agriculture and food processing sector. Regarding this initiative, he added that nearshoring should also be oriented toward trusted partners (friendly shoring), and that this is a great opportunity not only for our region but also for the European Union.
He highlighted several areas of progress since the last meeting in Kotor, including Kosovo’s chairmanship of CEFTA.
He called for the implementation of agreements reached in the Berlin Process, including those on diplomas and free movement with ID cards. After the visa waiver decision, entries by citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina into Kosovo increased significantly. Since Bosnian citizens travel freely to Kosovo, Kosovo citizens should also be enabled the same freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said.
In conclusion, Kurti stressed that security is a prerequisite for development and growth, emphasizing that the Western Balkans is not detached from Europe’s geopolitical landscape. He welcomed the commitment of the United States to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, as well as the NATO members’ decision at the Hague Summit to increase defense spending to 5% of Gross Domestic Product.
