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Serbia, Northern Macedonia and Albania will meet today in Ohrid, in the next meeting within the “Open Balkans” initiative.
On June 7 and 8, an agreement on the recognition of higher education diplomas, as well as memoranda on cultural cooperation in the field of tourism are expected to be signed.
None of the four planned documents mentions enlargement, but invites other interested states to cooperate in the future.
The representative of Montenegro, Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, will also attend the Ohrid summit for the first time. He has been criticized by part of the public in his country because he does not rule out the possibility of Montenegro’s membership in the “Open Balkans”, an initiative launched in 2019, which to date, despite having the support of the EU, as well as of the previous and current US administrations, failed to expand.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti has rejected the invitation of the Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski to participate in the Open Balkans Initiative
The three initiators, Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, Aleksandar Vuçi,, the President of Serbia, and Zoran Zaev, the former Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, conceived this concept in order to create an area of free movement of people, goods and services in Western Balkans.
Radio Free Europe reported a few days ago that in the text of the Agreement in the field of mutual recognition of diplomas, the initiative advocates the acceleration of procedures for the recognition of higher education diplomas between Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia.
The seven-article agreement refers to the fifth level qualifications (higher education), as well as levels six to eight of the European Qualifications Framework (from the knowledge and skills of advanced to higher education).
It is specified that diplomas with the apostille stamp of the competent institution are subject to direct recognition. The apostille stamp is a mark of legalization of documents used in international legal correspondence.
If there is any doubt about the authenticity of the diploma, the possibility is provided that the confirmation can be requested electronically from the institution that issued it. The deadline for response from that address is 14 days, while for the full completion of the recognition process, 20 days.
It is specified that diplomas in Albania will be recognized by the Center for Educational Services at the Ministry of Education, in Serbia by the Agency for Qualifications for Vocational Recognition, as well as in Northern Macedonia by the Vocational Diploma Recognition Unit of the Ministry of Education.
The three members of the “Open Balkans” invite on this occasion the other countries of the Western Balkans to join the Agreement.
The Memorandum of Understanding in the field of tourism in the Western Balkans, which is also to be signed in Ohrid and to which Radio Free Europe had access, envisages the formation of a tourist map called the “Open Balkans”.
The signatory states are obliged to encourage contacts between their tourism organizations and workers, and the establishment of special working groups in this field is envisaged.
“By forming special working groups, the contracting parties undertake to identify the legal framework in the field of tourism, as well as to launch efforts to harmonize their laws in order to mutually adapt to the system of tour operators”, is specified in one of the eight articles in the Memorandum.
The signatories also emphasize that they will try to exchange information on their legislation in the field of protection of natural resources and preservation of historical and cultural heritage, which are tourist attractions.
“The contracting parties, in accordance with their domestic laws, will promote the creation of favorable conditions for attracting investment in the tourism industry,” it said.
As an element of agreement between the three parties in the field of tourism, it is specified that the expansion of maritime, river and lake tourism can be considered as a “gateway to regional tourism”.
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