Roaming in the Western Balkans region and its relations to the EU countries will be one of the topics of the summit in Sofia this Thursday. However, the Ministry of Economy said for Pobjeda daily that at this moment, it is not certain whether the signing of an agreement on its abolition will happen at the summit.
The Ministry explained consultations on roaming in the region are still ongoing and that the final position of all countries is expected in the period after the summit.
They further added that direct application of European roaming regulations to countries outside the EU is not possible until accession to the Union.
“We therefore expect that the European Commission’s proposal on the modalities for lowering the prices of roaming between EU and the Western Balkan countries in the coming period be presented at the summit in Sofia”, the Ministry said.
The regime that has been in force in the EU countries since June 15 last year virtually abolished roaming. Regional countries, however, take advantage of status quo and charge astonishing amounts for basic services. This is why only five minutes of Google Maps, for example, costs Montenegrin citizens a minimum of 50 euros abroad. Our correspondents who visited neighbouring Bosnia were shocked to report a bill of 200 euros “managed” in only half an hour of browsing the internet.
