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Western Balkan countries agree to create single energy market — Serbian President

The regional energy conference organized by the Norwegian Embassy was attended by Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski, Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazovic and Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija

BELGRADE, November 17. /TASS/. The countries of the Western Balkans have agreed to create a unified regional energy market, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday. He announced this at a joint press conference with the leaders of Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and the head of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"At today's conference, we reached an agreement to move towards the formation of a regional market to assist each other when it comes to energy, because only together can we secure our future. It is not only about this winter but also about the winters to come," Vucic said as quoted by the Tanjug agency.

The Serbian President said that Norway presented the countries of the region with three options for the development of renewable energy for a period of 10 to 20 years. These options will require spending somewhere between 16 bln to 32 billion euros. Vucic noted that this is a huge investment, and the Balkan countries will have to choose which option is preferable for them.

The regional energy conference organized by the Norwegian Embassy was attended by Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski, Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazovic and Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija.

In October 2019, the leaders of Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia adopted a Declaration on a Common Economic Space ("Open Balkan"), which implies the free movement of goods, capital, services and people in the region.

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