Tirana - The Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Majlinda Bregu spoke at the Belgrade Security Conference (BSC) Leaders Meetings Discussion, held in Tirana today. 

“The idiom ‘Learning by doing’ is going to be the name of the game when it comes to the region entering the EU Single Market. All of us that have been feeling disappointed by more than six rounds of unsuccessful enlargement have enough reasons to believe that the entry into the Single Market is going to be something we can achieve in the near future. New phase of the Common Regional Market may not change the whole situation in the Western Balkans, but it is going to bring the region closer together, fast-tracking its much-needed convergence,” said Bregu.

She spoke at the panel dubbed “Albania and the Western Balkans in the EU by 2030: Tackling the Obstacles Ahead” together with Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, Daniela Schwarzer, Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board, Alba Çela, Executive Director and Head of the European Program at the Albanian Institute for International Studies. Discussion was moderated by Nikola Dimitrov, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, and president and co-founder of the Balkan Centre for Constructive Policies – Solution. 

“Seventy-one percent of young people from the Western Balkans expressed that they would like to leave the region. Common Regional Market has to address this. Some of the new CRM’s main lines are going to be focused on human capital, upskilling, and digital agenda. But CRM is just one of the pillars of the Growth Plan. So then we'll have to wait and see how the story will develop,” concluded Bregu. 

Organised by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) and the Balkan Centre for Constructive Policies – Solution, as part of the Belgrade Security Conference (BSC) the event gathers policy-makers and experts through discussions organised throughout the Western Balkans.