US-Balkans Business Summit Opens

Baltimore, Maryland | Photo by: Misanthrope0854

The aim of the summit is to help strengthen cooperation between Western Balkan countries, further develop economic ties between the US and region, and help the Balkan countries on their path to European integration, organisers said.

Through a series of workshops and panel discussions, representatives from the Balkans and the US will discuss ways to increase trade and investment between America and the region.

Montenegrin President Filip Vijanovic, Bosnian Presidency member Bakir Izetbegovic, Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Pesevski and Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Mimoza Kusari confirmed their attendance.

Serbia is not taking part in the conference, consistent with the country's policy not to attend gatherings at which Kosovo officials are treated as representatives of an independent state.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Thomas Countryman, speaking in the beginning of March, said that by refusing to take part in the summit in Baltimore, Serbia sent the wrong message and disappointed Washington.

However, the head of the Belgrade team for the dialogue with Priština, Borko Stefanovic, said that Serbia's participation in the summit would undermine the country's policy on Kosovo.

"We have long discussed with our American partners the issue of the summit, all the while trying to find a format which would enable Serbia's participation. At the beginning everything seemed fine, but unfortunately for us, things changed to our detriment," he underscored.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence three years ago, but Belgrade rejected the move as an illegal act of secession.