Albania and Montenegro opened a new border crossing on Tuesday, a place called Grabom. This is the fourth border crossing point between the two neighboring countries. The Grabom border crossing enables a faster communication than before between Plava, Guca, Vermoshi, the municipality of Tuz and that of Podgorica. The opening ceremony of the crossing was attended by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, Edi Rama and Zdravko Krivokapic. The construction of the Grabom border crossing is funded by the European Union.
The new border crossing between Albania and Montenegro is located in Malësi e Madhe, about 60 kilometers from the city of Shkodra. Its opening took place on Tuesday in the presence of the prime ministers of the two neighboring countries, the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama and the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Zdravko Krivokapic.
The Grabom joint border crossing is expected to facilitate communication between residents of the mountainous area of Plava, Guca, Kelmendi, Tuzi and Podgorica. This is the fourth crossing point on the border between Albania and Montenegro, after Hani i Hotit, Muriqan and Vermoshi. Its construction is funded by European Union funds.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic said the barracks and bunkers we once had proved to be on two separate planets, without communication and without friendship. After 30 years, this proves how strong are those regimes that do not allow communication of inhabitants and goods.
“Thanks to our joint efforts towards the European Union, we now have these modern border crossings, which testify to the friendship and trust between our two countries and, most importantly, enable citizens to communicate freely, without waiting and without losing.” time, at these crossings. “Today’s event,” said the Prime Minister of Montenegro, “testifies to the relations between our two peoples.” said the Montenegrin prime minister.
While Prime Minister Rama, appreciating the cooperation for the opening of the border crossing, added that again citizens and trucks will wait to carry out checks, which is not going, and that both countries should change it without wasting time.
“This is the purpose of the initiative we have undertaken in the framework of the Berlin Process together with the President of the Republic of Serbia and the Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, which is a comprehensive and not exclusive initiative. An initiative that aims to do just that; “In all the countries of our region, including Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia, people should feel free, move free and all entrepreneurs should feel the same dignity as European entrepreneurs when moving within the EU.”
Prime Minister Rama said that the countries of the Balkan region should also benefit from the four freedoms of the EU.
“Everywhere you look today, the tide of protectionist sentiment is flowing. no barriers, no waiting, no control and identification. And we here do not need to invent anything new, but to commit to making this space, the space between the two countries and the space throughout the region, a space where the four EU freedoms rule: the freedom of movement of people , the movement of goods, the movement of capital, the movement of services ”.
The work for the opening of the joint border crossing of Grabom has started since 2015, with the construction of the road, financed with a fund of about 1 million euros from the European Union.
The delay of almost 5 years for the opening of this border crossing point was caused by the delays of the Montenegrin side for the construction of the road axis that connects Podgorica with the border crossing point.
In the joint meeting of the two governments, held three years ago in the city of Shkodra, among other things, it was agreed to work to further facilitate the free movement of goods and citizens and to open another crossing point. border, in Lake Shkodra. But, although three years have passed since the signing of this agreement, the preparatory work for the opening of this border crossing point, which would be the fifth on the border between the two neighboring countries, has not started yet.
