Starting today, a significant development in regional cooperation has come to fruition. The unified labor market of the Open Balkan initiative officially commences. Citizens of Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia can now benefit from greater labor mobility across these three nations. The move is part of the effort to herald a new era of economic opportunity and growth in the region.
This initiative, spearheaded by the three countries’ leaders, aims to simplify the employment process across borders. Starting today, if a citizen of Serbia wishes to work in Albania or North Macedonia, they should visit the eUprava website to generate their Open Balkan ID number. The OB ID number will be immediately assigned to them. They will also receive an electronic certificate containing the ID number via email. With this ID number, they can freely access the labor market in Albania or North Macedonia. To do so, they should subsequently visit these countries’ respective electronic administration websites to obtain local approval. Citizens of Albania and North Macedonia who wish to work in Serbia can generate their OB ID number by visiting their national electronic administration websites and accessing eUprava to obtain clearance from the Serbian administration.
Citizens of Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia can, therefore, freely live and work in any of these three countries. This is indeed a significant step within broader efforts to strengthen regional cooperation. The Open Balkan initiative, therefore, aims to ease the movement of the region’s people, goods, services, and capital. Its objective is to foster economic development, create new investment opportunities, and improve the standard of living in the region.
The unified labor market of the Open Balkan initiative expects to help balance labor shortages by creating greater employment opportunities for approximately 11 million employees across the three countries. An objective of the unified labor market is also to help combat the rampant labor drain from the region.
