On Friday, the ministers of the six countries of the Western Balkans are to sign an agreement on the free movement of people between these countries and the mutual recognition of university diplomas, the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Mailinda Bregu said.

Map of the BalkansPhoto: Dreamstime / Miroslav Jacimovic

“Students now have to pay between 300 and 500 euros just for recognition (of diplomas). With this agreement, that cost will be zero,” Bregu said ahead of a meeting of Western Balkan officials organized by German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.

Bregu said that the countries of the Western Balkans – Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – will also agree to the free movement of people without identity cards.

“This means that the last visa wall in the Western Balkans, between Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, will disappear,” said Bregu of the Regional Cooperation Council, which promotes the region’s European integration.

(article photo: ©Miroslav Jacimovic|Dreamstime.com)