Vucic announces abolishment of work permits within framework of Open Balkans

"I expect the process of ending work permits to be completed soon, and that would be, I dare say, the basis of economic cooperation between all of us," he said in Verona, where, as part of the Open Balkans initiative, he met with the prime ministers of North Macedonia and Albania, Dimitro Kovacevski and Edi Rama.

Vucic said that Serbia increased imports and trade with North Macedonia by about 50 percent in the last three years.

"The biggest obstacle in the Western Balkans is that trucks with goods spend 70 percent of the time at the border and 30 percent driving, we will have to work on that," he said.

When asked by a journalist whether the issue of Kosovo could be an obstacle between Serbia and Albania in the Open Balkans initiative, he said that the leaders of the two countries lead a "responsible policy".

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dmitar Kovacevski, said in Verona that the Open Balkans is an initiative that "gives results" and that it is not a political but an economic initiative.