Accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati, Prime Minister Edi Rama attended the Special Summit of the Adriatic Charter held on 2 August in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, in the presence of the Vice President of the United States, Michael R. Pence, and state and government leaders in the region.

The Summit was a convenient moment for the countries of the region to reiterate once more with the American side the strategic importance of the Adriatic space, and to reiterate the determination of the Charter countries to achieve full Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans.

In his opening speech at the Summit, Vice President Pence said that “President Trump’s special envoy came here to greet the progress of the Western Balkans. By approaching the Adriatic with the Atlantic, we can secure a better future not only for the region, but for the whole West.”

Bilateral meetings with Vice President Pence, as well as with other leaders in the region, reaffirmed the will to move forward, all together, in defence of the strategic interests of our peoples.

At a meeting with Croatian PM Plenkovic, the high sensitivity of the Albanian public opinion to the Ballist Morina case was conveyed, and the need for a more reasonable solution of the situation was highlighted.

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Established by USA, Albania, Croatia and Macedonia to support the membership of Western Balkan countries in NATO, the Adriatic Charter was signed in Tirana in 2003.

Since the establishment of the Charter, the initiative has been extended to two members, Montenegro and Bosnia, as well as to Kosovo and Serbia in the capacity of observer countries. Since 2014, Kosovo has expressed its desire to be a full member of the Adriatic Charter.