Montenegro Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic said on Wednesday that Kosovo would benefit most from the Open Balkans initiative which he supports.

The Open Balkans initiative was launched in 2019 by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and former North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev as a regional initiative intended to boost economic links in the countries of the Western Balkans. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti opposes the initiative as did the previous Montenegrin government.

Bosnian leadership also has not reached a consent on joining the initiative.

Abazovic told Pristina-based Klan Kosova TV that the initiative was intended to include all six countries of the Western Balkans. “Open Balkans was made for six countries, not made for five and a half or three and a half states, for six. Everyone who takes part represents themselves and their country. My opinion, and I might be wrong, is that the greatest regional interest is to have Kosovo in every regional initiative,” he said.

He rejected claims that Open Balkans was Vucic’s initiative intended to create a Greater Serbia because Albania is involved.

According to the Montenegrin Prime Minister, the most important thing is to increase trust among the countries of the region. “That requires communication and we only have that twice a year – in Berlin and Vienna where we meet among prime ministers, talk and have coffee and no one communicates with anyone afterwards. I think that is wrong,” he said.