Western Balkans to abolish roaming charges by 2021

AFP  |  Belgrade 

countries agreed on Thursday to lower and eventually abolish charges, in a rare act of neighbourly goodwill in region with political feuds.

The plan is to then "completely" abolish the charges by 2021, according to announcement from the

Home to some 17 million people, all of countries except for were once part of former Yugoslavia, before it fractured in the 1990s through a series of wars that left 130,000 dead.

The EU-backed accord was signed at a digital summit in and welcomed by Johannes Hahn, who tweeted "Great ..as of July you #RoamLikeAtHome".

Unlike a similar 2014 agreement, this one includes and Kosovo, a former Serbian province whose independence refuses to recognise 20 years after they were split by war.

Already poor relations between the former war foes took a nosedive last November when levied a 100 per cent tariff on Serbian and Bosnian goods in political protest.

Serbia's said signing the accord was "not easy at a moment when violates regional agreements".

But she said the country was "sending a signal to give a chance to the region to be prosperous and to have different future".

Valdrin Lluka, Kosovo's hailed the "very good for Western Balkan countries".

"I believe that this agreement is another step forward towards enhancing regional cooperation between the Western Balkan states," he said in a statement.

All of the Western Balkan countries aspire to join the European Union, with and the furthest along in the process.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Thu, April 04 2019. 20:30 IST