Cancellor Merkel underlined that, despite all the difficulties facing reconciliation, however, there had also been “numerous instances of success on the ground”. A solid foundation was laid in the area of youth and student exchange with the establishment of the Western Balkans Youth Forum, for instance – the first Western Balkans Youth Forum assembled last week. What seemed unthinkable for many years is now beginning to emerge as a tangible possibility: young people from different ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds are coming together. This was “practical groundwork dedicated to peaceful coexistence in the future”, as the Federal Chancellor had previously stressed in her podcast prior to the summit.

Since the “Berlin Process” got underway, sound progress has been made in vocational training and further education, as well as mutual recognition of university degrees and academic cooperation. Merkel noted that there was still much to be done, however.

Considerable progress has been made in boosting the transport and energy infrastructure to boost links in the region, and annual conferences are now held in the field of research and civil society, too. A Green Agenda has also been launched, and there are Green Lanes to speed up domestic transport. This had been especially important for the transportation of goods required for combating the pandemic, said the Federal Chancellor. On this topic, she announced that three million vaccine doses would be made available for the Western Balkans.

The current focus is on creating a common market with the aim of establishing the four fundamental EU freedoms within the Western Balkan states. Here the Federal Chancellor highlighted the abolition of additional roaming charges among the six Western Balkan countries as a key practical measure that would impact on the day-to-day life of all citizens in the region and break down barriers between the states. This came into force on 1 July.

For more information, please consult the original source