Recently, the region has been facing serious cyber attacks, and the digitalization of the Western Balkans can be evaluated bilaterally - said the General Secretary of the Council for Regional Cooperation (RSS) Maylinda Bregu at today's opening of the Digital Summit of the Western Balkans in Pristina.

"Digitalization in our region has two sides of the coin. On the one hand, great strides have been made in terms of broadband connectivity, the mass spread and use of electronic services, and information and communication technologies are becoming the main export service and economic resource for most countries... On the other hand, our region has recently been struggling with serious cyber threats attacks. Digital literacy is still at a low level of 24 to 47 percent, compared to 54 percent at the European Union level, and the same is the case with cross-border interoperability. Misinformation and fake news are flourishing," said Bregu.

Bregu, as reported by RSS, asked the EU to cancel visas for Kosovo and obtain candidate status for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The summit is being held at a time when our region is at a crossroads, and we are trying to find some bright spots such as the belated start of negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. At the same time, we cannot but insist that bold and decisive steps be taken in the direction of the region's accession to the European Union without delay, including the cancellation of visas for Kosovars and candidate status for Bosnia and Herzegovina, concluded Bregu.

The fifth Digital Alone in the Western Balkans will be held on September 21 and 22 in Pristina, and will be attended by high-ranking representatives of six countries from the Western Balkans, the European Commission, the Council for Regional Cooperation, international financial institutions and the private sector in the ICT industry.