Prime Minister Edi Rama at joint press conference at meeting of NATO Allies from Southeast Europe region:
I would like to thank Prime Minister Kovačevski for the invitation and the NATO Secretary General for his commitment and the opportunity for this meeting, the first of its kind to conclude the Secretary General’s tour to our region. I would also like to say that the Secretay General welcomed to build a NATO-Western Balkans Summit format that would include not only the NATO member states from this region, but also the partner countries, namely the other countries in the Western Balkans that are not present here today, and of course the other part of the member states bordering our region that have immediate interest in the region’s stability and democratic progress.
On the other hand, I would like to underline that I think it is a regrettable fact that despite the repeated appeals to significantly increase, not only the focus, but also the number of troops that should secure not only the stability and the absolute territorial integrity of Kosovo, a tragic event has taken place there, which should serve as a warning signal rather than a sporadic event that should not be repeated. To this end, at today’s meeting I reiterated the indispensability of an increased number of NATO troops in Kosovo and the necessity of guaranteeing the Kosovo- Serbia border that is beyond any control indeed and that serves the illegal activities, including arms trafficking, drug trafficking, and other activities that may then interfere, as we all already know, with the political activity with ultranationalist background which cause major disturbances, as it was the case in Banjske, where a police officer of the Republic of Kosovo lost his life in the line of duty and where this event clearly showed the high destabilization potential and escalation of a conflict that, as the Secretary General put it, should be treated in one way only, namely the European Union-facilitated open dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
On the other hand, I would like to underscore also the request that Albania’s application to co-fund together with NATO construction of the new NATO navy base in Porto Romano be processed as soon as possible, as we strongly believe that everything that happens, step by step, only contribute to the reinforcement of the strategic value of such an investment, not only for Albania, nor just for whole our region, but also for the NATO itself that would be granted another fast access to this part of Europe and for the strategic goals of the common defense.
Once again, dear Dimitar, dear Jens
Thank you for this opportunity today to share our concerns and views. Under its 2024 state budget, Albania will meet the meet the 2% of GDP NATO guideline for defence, as it was set forth at the NATO Summit for all the member states and we will continue with great commitment to boost our capacities, to enhance the efficiency of our Armed Forces and, at the same time, we will be on the front of the NATO states as a responsible and steadfast member to tackle all the shared challenges.
