"Balkans must not be left as unfinished business" - PM

"Balkans must not be left as unfinished business" - PM

"Serbia and the Western Balkans need and deserve Washington’s renewed political attention and support to accelerate EU integration, resolve outstanding bilateral disputes that stand in the path of European integration, attract foreign direct investments, and tackle the ongoing refugee crisis," said Vucic.

"The United States must not leave the Western Balkans as 'unfinished business,' but crown its own - and the region’s - decades-long efforts with the success of the region’s renewed prosperity, reintegration and EU integration," the article continued.

According to Vucic, despite recent successes made in reintegrating the Western Balkans, mostly through the “Berlin Process” and Western Balkans Summits, "a lot more remains to be done."

The prime minister said that "we are profoundly aware that the superficial and plainly wrong international image of the Balkans as the 'powder keg of Europe' will not change by itself," and that "Serbia has been investing much political energy into driving a sustained reconciliation effort throughout the Western Balkans."

He stated that "Serbia’s consecutive democratic governments have been determined to resolve all outstanding differences, even the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo, the European way - through dialogue."

Vucic noted that he hosted Bosnia-Herzegovina’s three-person presidency in Belgrade for a joint intergovernmental meeting "sending a message of tolerance and reconciliation" after experiencing "the rock-pelting incident in Srebrenica" earlier in July, one that "did not dissuade him."

"As a beacon of reconciliatory politics in the region, Serbian-Albanian relations entered an unparalleled era of rapprochement with first bilateral visits in 70 years. To honor the innocent victims of the 1990s conflicts, I proposed introducing a common Remembrance Day throughout the territory of former Yugoslavia. When instituted, it may prove a valuable symbolic step in overcoming past tragedies and shaping a restorative, European future for the new generations in the Western Balkans," wrote Vucic.

He also stated that historically, his country has been "a staunch ally of the United States that has fought both world wars side by side."

According to the prime minister, since 2000, Belgrade and Washington have not only been jointly removing the causes and the consequences of "an anomaly" that occurred in bilateral relations "with the NATO intervention in 1999" - "but have been forging a new relationship based on mutual trust and shared interests, simultaneously fighting organized crime, drug-trafficking, terrorism and - most importantly - rebuilding stability and prosperity in the Western Balkans."

Vucic then recalled that Serbia in 2006 joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program, and in January this year "saw its Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO enter into force by decision of the North Atlantic Council."

He added that "some 300 members of Serbia’s professional standing army serve in different U.N. peacekeeping missions across the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa, and - since 2011 - in EU-led operations."

"Today Serbia is playing a notable role in helping alleviate the humanitarian crisis onset by an unprecedented influx of refugees via the 'Balkans route' toward the EU," wrote Vucic.

The prime minister stated that his government introduced a set of structural reforms that have yielded first results - "public spending cut by 2.2 percent, unemployment by 2.4 percent and the fiscal deficit by a notable 45.5 percent year by year."

According to him, "ambitious public-sector reforms are aimed at developing a professional administration capable of seeing the reform process through, and tackling the normative challenges of EU integration."

Vucic stressed that over the last 15 years Washington and Belgrade have reached "solid ground on which to build a mutually beneficial relationship for the 21st century."

And while Washington and Belgrade "focus on forging stronger bilateral relations, converging on common values and interests" Vucic suggested it was "high time more U.S. companies - like their European counterparts - ventured into Serbia and actively engaged Serbia’s vibrant human capital and investment opportunities."