The protest against the Open Balkans initiative, organized by the Albanian opposition Democratic Party and former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, took place in Tirana in the afternoon yesterday, Skopje's 360 Degrees electronic publication reported.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are due to attend a two-day meeting on the Open Balkans regional co-operation initiative in Tirana, the main reason for the protest, and protesters lit Serbian flags.

Demonstrators carried banners with messages written against the Open Balkans initiative, featuring President Vucic, Rama and George Soros. Addressing the protest, Berisha said the goal of the Open Balkans was to establish "Serbian hegemony".

"Today, all the citizens of Macedonia, Kosovo and Bosnia are protesting here, who see in the devil's project an attempt by adventurers to replace the Berlin Process. Read the letter they sent to Brussels. Nowhere is there talk of sovereign peoples, but of peoples in the old Yugoslav concept. This project aims to establish Serbian hegemony in the region."

History proves that one of the biggest failures in the Balkans, Europe and the world is the idea of ​​Serbian hegemony on our peninsula," Berisha warned protesters. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama condemned the burning of Serbian flags, as well as Berisha's statements, arguing that anyone who took to the streets of Tirana today should be ashamed. "Let those who did this be ashamed, not me and my government, who have the support of Albanians who want to work, develop, and not suffer the consequences of the old Albanian policy," Rama said.

/Focus