The leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia met on Sunday to discuss setting up a common market by 2021. The initiative wants to remove administrative barriers for free movement of goods and people between the three countries.  

The meeting comes after the EU failed to give North Macedonia and Albania a date to start talks on joining the bloc because France opposed it. Serbia opened membership talks with the bloc in 2014.  

The common market initiative was launched by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who told reporters that "We did not invent anything better for the past 30 years in the Balkans." 

"We all want to be part of EU... it depends on them," he added. 

The region of Kosovo, which was also invited to Sunday's talks, declined to attend. In a message posted on social media, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said "The vision of Kosovo is its accession to EU and NATO" which cannot be replaced by "any other regional initiative." 

He went on to argue that "This initiative makes no sense as long as Serbia and Bosnia do not recognise Kosovo independence."  

Kosovo, a former Yugoslavian province, declared independence in 2008, nine years after NATO conducted a 78-day airstrike against Serbia.   

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama reacting to Pristina's stance over the initiative "It is also in the interest of Kosovo, its citizens and market that the border between Kosovo and Serbia be abolished" despite the unresolved dispute between the two countries.

The citizens of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia would be allowed to travel between their countries using only an ID card and would also have a common work permit, according to this initiative. The three countries also want to establish a "mini Schengen" visa-free zone that would allow foreign visitors to move freely within their borders.  

The countries are also hoping to introduce customs procedures to accelerate the passage of trucks. The Balkan leaders are expected to continue talks on their initiative in Albania next month.  

In October, North Macedonia and Albania were hoping to begin negotiations to join the European Union, but were denied it.  Following the EU's decision, North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called for an early election. 

All countries, except France, backed opening membership talks with North Macedonia, which is judged to have met EU targets for a host of reforms and has ended disputes with its neighbors. France will not support any new countries joining the 28-nation bloc until its enlargement procedures have been improved.  

However, The European Commission, which supervises entry talks, insisted North Macedonia and Albania had met all the criteria for admittance. 

Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and the region of Kosovo – are trying to join the 28-nation political and trading group following the ethnic wars of the 1990s that led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. 

The constant expansion of the EU over the years has complicated decision-making in the world's biggest trade bloc, and "enlargement fatigue," as some have termed it, has set in.