Mariya Gabriel will Present Roadmap to Reduce Roaming Charges in Western Balkans

A roadmap with specific dates for reducing roaming prices in the Western Balkan countries will be presented at the Summit on 17 May in Sofia. This was announced in Brussels on 6^th of March by the Commissioner for Digital Economy and the Digital Society, Mariya Gabriel, at a conference in the European Parliament attended by ambassadors from the Western Balkan countries in Brussels.

Reducing roaming prices for the countries of the Western Balkans is the most direct way for citizens of these countries to feel the direct benefit of eventual European membership, says Mariya Gabriel. For several months, the Bulgarian EU Commissioner has been talking to all stakeholders in the region and mobile operators.

I remain optimistic because we all know that we are experiencing an unusual political moment in which the European perspective of the Western Balkan countries is very high on the agenda, she said.

According to the Bulgarian MEP Andrei Kovachev, the reduction of roaming prices in the countries of the Western Balkans is also important for the rest of the citizens of the European Union.

We are talking about countries that are almost in the centre of Europe, and we are paying roaming rates commensurate with those in Australia or New Zealand. That cannot go on any longer, he said.

The commission also works on other projects related to the digitization of the Western Balkans. Students from the six Balkan countries will be able to benefit from paid European internships in the field of information technology. According to Gabriel, the Western Balkans should be involved in European cyber-security policies. She urged the Balkan administrations to introduce electronic identity cards more quickly.