Good afternoon!
Dear profesor Lawson,
Dear Rick,

Thank you for inviting me at the Europa Institute of Leiden University. It is a privilege and a great honour to be here as this is indeed one of the oldest academic institutions specialized in European Law, and specifically the European Convention on Human Rights.

The life-span of the Institute and that of the European Union are interlinked, as the Institute was established at the same year as the European Economic Community itself: Through its 60 years activity, the Europa Institute at the Leiden University has contributed to the understanding and development of the rapidly evolving integration in Europe.

I have a piece of my own personal history from this place: Some 18 yearsago, as I rode my bicycle on the streets ofthis town, down to the Einstein café to have a drink and a chat with the ever changing-group of international students, and as I absorbed impatiently the knowledge of generations of lawyers and practitioners of international and European Law, I became fascinated with what I regard as the bedrock of European political culture: which is the rule of law.

Today, despite the fact that my bicycle has been replaced with a police motorcade accompanying me to the building, I still share the same fascination, as then, with rule of law.

It does not take much insight to notice that today’s Europe is not Europe of Grotius, who in his lifetime was a poet, a legal scholar, a diplomat of Sweden in France, a general Attorney, indeed an ancestor of the international student of our days.

Unfortunately, Europe of today is far from even Europe of my student years in the Netherlands, when the prospect of a Europe undivided appeared closer and more inspiring to both, those coming from Southeast Europe, as myself, and those living within the EU. Today Europe’s is more self-centered and less open to outsiders.

Allow me to share some insights from my part of Europe about what challenges us most these days:

Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans today is a very different region from 28 years ago when these countries came out of the authoritarian regimes or went through the process of dissolution, as in the case of countries of former Yugoslavia. Whereas, the area used to be notorious for its ethnic conflicts and unprecedented violence since the Second World War, today we are a region which aspires first and foremost development, good governance and rule of law, peace and security.

Yet, the legacy of the tragic events during the 1990s still represents a huge political and psychological barrier for achieving full normalization of relations.

Relations between countries and societies in our region have generally suffered from a lack of trust, either between ourselves or in institutions and legal agreements. In the last twenty years, several political attempts have been made to push the reconciliation process forward–as seen in the political efforts made by the EU to facilitate the Kosovo Serbia relations; the Serb-Croat relations; and most recently between Macedonia and Bulgaria. Such attempts have been certainly useful and helpful in improving the political atmosphere, but in many cases, they have not managed to permanently replace the nationalistic paradigm and the distrust between states, peoples and communities, that is still very much present.

The rise of nationalism or its revival is the first most prominent security threat we face today, in the Western Balkans as well as in the rest of Europe.

In January 2017, in an open provocative stunt, a train set to run from Belgrade to North Mitrovica in Kosovo was covered with signs in more than a dozen languages controversially declaring that “Kosovo is Serbia.” A few months later in Macedonia, a group of thugs, let in by members of the ruling nationalist party, stormed the Parliament, beating up and threatening the lives of MP’s and seeking to prevent the formation of a new government. Just a few weeks ago, a leading Kosovo Serb politician, Oliver Ivanovic, was shot and killed in broad daylight in Mitrovica by unidentified gunmen.

These episodes show the vulnerability of our societies and democratic institutions, as well as the volatility of peace and stability in this part of Europe.

They also send a clear message for the United States and the European Union that leaving the Balkans outside of Euro-Atlantic structures carries significant risks not just for this region, but for the entire Euro-Atlantic security community.

When nationalism or populism start rising in one corner of Europe, no one’s liberal values are immune in the continent.

The second set of internal threats we face stem from structural weakness of our institutions: weak rule of law, weak democracies and non-resilient societies.

Resilience is the key word I would like to say a few words on: In contrast to the established liberal democracies of most of the EU member states- including this country-our countries suffer from long-term structural weakness of their institutions and short-lived, if any, democratic experience from the past.

As you may be familiar with, Albania’s democratic transition was characterized, among other things, by a highly dependent, inefficient and low-quality judiciary system. This system, which is supposed to guarantee the rule of law, eroded people’s trust in the rule of law and judiciary institutions.

For this reason, our government regarded the judiciary reform as the master reform which would have a rippling effect and impact on all other areas, including the fight against organized crime and corruption, the improvement of economy and the business environment, and fundamental human rights. No one’s rights and liberties are guaranteed when the law is not enforced, or enforced selectively.

Following parliament’s vote for the change of 1/3 of the constitution and the establishment of a drastically new judiciary architecture, in the past few months we have moved swiftly with the implementation of the key element of the justice reform –which is the re-evaluationor the vetting of about 800 judges and prosecutors.

This reform is the deepest and most comprehensive reform of the judiciary system, when compared not just with the countries of the region which are already negotiating with the EU, but also with the new EU and member states, who acceded under much less strict rules than we are subject to. It is also the reform, in which the EU was most involved in, not just in providing support but in being a partner from the inception to the implementation process.

For us, progress in our European path does not just mean progress in our domestic change, but it also meanssustaining this major investment of the EU member states, the Netherlands most prominently, in our internal transformation.

II.
Having touched upon two of the most prominent internal threats to our region today, let me turn to external threats we face jointly, from East to the West, from North to the South of Europe:

These threats include: violent extremism and its related aspects; the reversed Foreign Terrorist Fighters flow, the proliferation and trafficking, and not least the meddling of third powers in the region.

Violent extremism and relatedphenomena remains a challenge; Although the threat of radicalization and violent extremism that leads to terrorism is much lower these days, the Region still faced the phenomena of the returned FtFflow, which presents both a legal and social challenge. We have also directed our efforts in pursuing a better cooperation and greater coordination in harmonizing the regional efforts in preventing and countering violent extremism, is a necessity as security concerns are growing more each day.

Albania has adopted a National Strategy on CVE in November in 2015; An Action Plan for 2017-2019 was adopted in October 2017. They deal with a holistic approach in addressing the FTF’s issue through a mix of hard and soft measures. In December 2017 Albania approved the setting up of a CVE Centre, with the main focus to prevent extremism and influence of extremist ideologies, which, with time, would serve also as regional hub to join efforts and responses against terrorism and FtF by identifying the best practice on preventive measures.

During 2017, the migratory pressurefrom the south continued: Albania offered swiftly its contribution to the NATO maritime activity in the Aegean, which is already cooperating with EU’s operation Sophia, External EU border’s Agency (FRONTEX), and two of our immediate neighbors, Greece and Turkey in the joint European efforts to tackle the migrant and refugee crisis.

III.
In the face of these security threats and given our geo-strategic position, a credible accession perspective for the region, as well as an enhanced cooperation between our countries in the Western Balkans as well as between us and the EU in the security front are two long-term and strategic solutions:
In 2016, in response to the currentemerging security challenges the European Union adopted a Global Strategy; This document provides a solid basis and exerts sufficient pressure to countries of the WB to solve bilateral issues in a sustainable way before they become members of the European Union. It also requires the EU to contribute the further strengthening of cooperation between institutions of the countries of the Western Balkans as well as between these countries and member states.

Moreover, this Document recognizes the necessity of closer cooperation between Member States and the countries of the Western Balkans, and in particular with candidate countries with a clear EU accession perspective in areas such as conflict prevention, peace building, crisis response and also stabilization through the CSDP missions and operations.

In a world full of complex crises and rising uncertainties, among which the humanitarian and security challenges stemming from the regions close the EU external border, working more closely with the EU and helping to address issues earlier rather than later becomes a joint imperative.

On our side, we have shown full commitment to contribute to EU security initiatives and strengthen cooperation with member states in the area of security. I wish to underline the fact thatfor more than a decade, Albania aligns in full its foreign policy positions with the EU’s Common Security and Foreign Policy, demonstrating a clear resolve in support and pursue of the EU Foreign and Security Policy goals. This orientation is sustained not by some grand rhetorical slogan, but by daily decisions we take: votes cast by us in multilateral fora, positions held at regional initiatives, and so on.

Alongside member states like the Netherlands, we are staunch supporters of multi-laterism we work closely on a number of policy areas related to human rights and good governance. This is more than just a moral stance; it is first and foremost a pragmatic approach as we are a small country whose security is closely linked to the security of the continent and the Euro-Atlantic community as a whole.

Our contribution to European security is linked inextricably to our efforts to strengthen regional cooperation in the Western Balkans:

As an EU candidate country, Albania stands resolved in its vision for improving security in the region and beyond. We are staunch supporters of regional cooperation in all aspects, but especially on security issues, because we know that addressing issues earlier rather than later, and cooperating with neighbors will mean that we won’t have to deal with the long-term consequences of the potential risks and challenges. The experience of cooperation between EU member states, even though not perfect, provides the best example of this.

This is why we are exploring every possibility to increase interaction with other countries in our region: we meet regularly in a G2G format with Kosovo, have done so lately with Macedonia and will soon meet with Montenegro; we have established specific platforms of cooperation such as the Trilateral annual Meeting of Albania, Serbia and Italy, Trilateral annual Meeting of Albania, Croatia and Montenegro, or the Quatrilateral Meeting of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia, and so on.

Strengthening our cooperation within the framework of NATO is also critical: NATO’s long time serious and firm commitment in the Western Balkans has rightly been described as a success story to the region.  NATO has, both at the Wales and the Warsaw Summit, underlined thestrategic importance of the Western Balkans to the Alliance.

NATO’s Open door policy remains a strong tool to “fully secure and erase the grey zones” from this part of Europe as well as to boost domestic reforms and good neighborly relations between our countries. The Alliance can tangibly contribute by enhancing its presence and activities in the region, including visits, exercises and public diplomacy activity in order to counter the meddling of third powers in the region.

I truly believe that a dynamic re-launch of the EU enlargement policy for the Western Balkans and an objective recognition of the efforts of countries which have gone under dramatic transformative reforms-like in our case- is in the long term interest of Europe as a whole.

In addition to the transformative effect that the accession process has on our institutions and societies, an upgrade of the enlargement policy would increase security In Europe. The EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy would benefit from such an approach and the EU would have the possibility to show that it is a credible actor in the international arena through its soft power.

It is therefore vital for Brussels (and Washington to work together and) step up their efforts to reengage the region. Renewed EU engagement in the Balkans could break the downward spiral of authoritarianism and escalating crises and restore faith in the EU model, the one the countries have chosen as the best guarantee for their future.

As Grotius’s writings taught us there is no viable international order without Europe. And for Europe to play a central role in setting the rules of cooperation with other parts of the world, and in playing a stronger role in international security, as the context today calls for, it needs to be consolidated not only from South to North, but also from East to the West.

Enhanced political and security cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkans and the opening of negotiations for the countries which are ready, would be a solid proof of Europe’s awareness of this need.

Thank you.