“Is the joint control of the Tabanovce-Presevo border crossing the same as the abolition of the dual border control between Albania and Kosovo”
Since August 26, 2019, the border with Serbia will be crossed through one control point. In most of the media the news of the day was the launching of the “one-stop-shop” project, which abolishes the dual control on both sides of the Tabanovce-Presevo border crossing, ie. between the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia. The border crossing will be crossed by one check on the joint control established by the border services of the two countries with the integrated border management project, which means joint management of border and customs controls. The project is assessed as positive, which significantly contributes to the development of regional economic cooperation, creating conditions for greater and easier exchange of goods and easier movement of citizens by reducing the waiting time by half.
And while all of these benefits for the citizens of the two neighboring countries are regarded as the crown of the friendly and neighborly relations between the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia, the abolition of the dual controls at the border between Albania and Kosovo, not so long ago, was assessed by certain media as a step towards realizing the “Great Albania” plan as part of the Tirana Platform.
Comparatively, the question arises: Why was the abolition of the dual control at the border crossing between Albania and Kosovo “evaluated” as a step towards Great Albania, rather than as a facilitation of border and customs controls?! Now the answer is even clearer. About the disinformation with the narrative of “Great Albania” and on the importance of abolishing dual control at border crossings, the F2N2 team has already written in the past.
This is just another indication that some media are unprofessionally and are deliberately disinforming and failing to report on the benefits of a project of particular importance to the economic regional development.
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This project was funded in part through a U.S. Embassy grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the implementers/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.
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