Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ditmir Bushati, met in Tirana with Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Rose Gottemoeller.

This visit was held in order to exchange views at bilateral level, to discuss on regional developments and their impact on the alliance and about the dynamics of security deployment in a broader Euro-Atlantic plan, especially after the Ministerial Meeting of the Alliance. Parties also discussed on the recent events in the Azov Sea, and alignment of the Alliance over it.

As an ally country, Minister Bushati praised the cooperation between Albania and NATO by stressing that “we appreciate this cooperation and as we implement our commitments in practice we are also trying to project and resonate more democratic stability in the Western Balkans and in Southeast Europe”.

Minister Bushati highlighted Albania’s increased spending projections on the field of defense by emphasizing that “Albania has an increase of investments on the defense budget and will continue its contribution to missions and operations run by NATO”.

Mr. Bushati and Mrs. Gottemoeller exchanged views on the security situation in the region. Minister Bushati praised the role of KFOR for the stability in Kosovo and beyond. “We have expressed our good will to further cooperate so the range of NATO’s democratic stability in our region and beyond will be unchallenged” said minister Bushati.

NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Gotemoeller underlined the strategic role that NATO has consistently provided to the Western Balkans, and particularly appreciated Albania in the regional position it holds, highlighting Albania’s commitment to advancing NATO policy in this geographical area.

 

Minister Bushati address to the press after the meeting with Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Rose Gottemoeller

Good morning everyone!

It was a pleasure for me to begin this day with a very fruitful meeting with Deputy Secretary General at NATO who is in Tirana, and I expressed my gratitude for this visit, just a few days following the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the NATO member countries, in Brussels.

As you may know, with the Secretary General of NATO, with the Deputy Secretary General, the member countries, including Albania, have very good cooperation and I’m not saying that only in terms of meetings of the Foreign Ministers or Ministers of Defence, but also for certain issues, especially to those areas in which certain countries, due to their geographical proximity have a more in depth perspective.

In this context, we had the opportunity, today, to discuss in the first place Albania’s engagement in the organization, mainly with regard to Albania’s positive projection of the expenses on the defense, based on the commitments taken as part of the Wales Summit and especially on the roadmap that in political terms was agreed in the June’s Summit. Albania has an increase on the expenses of the defense budget, as it contributes in missions and operations run by NATO.

Secondly, it was a very good opportunity to exchange views on the security situation in the region. It is known that for Albania and Albanians, NATO membership is considered as one of the greatest achievements following the collapse of the communist regime and we appreciate this achievement by implementing commitments in practice and on the other hand, we are trying to design and resonate more democratic stability in the Western Balkans and in Southeast Europe. In this context, we welcome the collaboration with the Secretary-General, with the Deputy Secretary General, on matters that are considered of a more sensitive nature and today we had an overview of the challenges that our region is faced with.

The last thing I would like to say at this point is our maximum consideration for the KFOR role in Kosovo, as a contributor to the stability for Kosovo and beyond and in this context we have expressed our readiness to further cooperate so that the ray of democratic stability of NATO in our region and beyond will be unchallenged.

Thanks again for your visit in Albania.

 

Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Rose Gottemoeller address to the press:

Minister Bushati,

Ditmir,

Thank you for the very warm welcome this morning, it is a pleasure to be in Tirana today and it is great that we see each other so very soon after our Foreign Ministerial in NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

The top issues in that Ministerial included Russia’s violation of the Intermediate Range Forces Treaty. Russia’s aggressive actions near the Sea Vasov and the Western Balkans we have stepped up our practical and political engagement in the Western Balkans because NATO is strongly committed to this important region and Albania’s knowledge and understanding of the dynamics here in this region have been very helpful in advancing NATO forward in this arena.

NATO fully supports the EU sponsored dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, it remains the only way to bring durable peace and stability to the region. We count on Albania to continue to use its influence to support this process and to encourage both Belgrade and Pristina to show calm and restraint. Today we discussed the Kosovo Security Force and its plan to transform it into an army, the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenborg, stressed in his recent conversation with Mr. Haradinaj, that he deemed such a move to be ill-timed and that it could have negative repercussions on Kosovo’s prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration.

He reiterated that should the mandate of the Kosovo Security Forces evolve, NATO will have to examine the level of our engagement with the Kosovo Security Forces, at the same time and I want to underscore and emphasize this point, Secretary General Stoltenberg also spoke to Serbian President Vuçiç, on the move to deescalate current tensions and work towards peace and stability in the region.