Dear colleagues,

I want to thank Daniel for the warm reception and for having us here to exchange on some recent developments that affect all of us.

Very briefly, I would like to emphasise 4 points:

1) First, on the importance of SEECP. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of SEECP, which has proved to be an accelerator of regional cooperation. Its all-inclusiveness is a strength that we must all cherish and promote in all our regional formats.

But in this 20th anniversary we must also take a critical look at how we are operating. Indeed we have initiated a review process of SEECP but no considerable progress has been made so far.
If we want SEECP to keep being a factor for security, stability and prosperity in South-East Europe, then we need to involve and activate this forum in a more concrete and meaningful way.

2) My second point is on the refugee crisis and its spill-over effects across the continent. Indeed over the past year we have witnessed :
–    the rise of legitimate concerns about the terrorism/migration nexus
–    the rise of not so legitimate negative stereotypes
–    the rise of extremes across Europe
–    the rise of distrust amongst neighbours and allies

All this at the expense of cross-border cooperation and of a unified response. Over the last year, the European way of dealing with the refugee crisis has been in fact a confused set of messages and policies.

An external observer could go as far as saying that over the past year we appeared “united in selfishness”, as if we were cornered between:
–    on the one hand the values of liberty and solidarity
–    on the other, the increasingly illiberal set of policies that are blurring the political debate across the continent.

In this context I fully subscribe to the spirit of responsibility, solidarity and interdependence of our Joint Statement on Migration Challenges. It certainly shows that we genuinely want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

The next few weeks will be critical, as we collectively try to get out of the confused response period into real decision-making and then to implementation.

I believe that at this particular moment in time it is important for the Western Balkan countries to avoid becoming stationary countries as this would be highly disruptive for the entire region not to mention the security concerns.

3) My third point is in fact about countering terrorism and countering violent extremism.
There is of course the security dimension, and we know the world will not be in peace without destroying DAESH.

But we should not forget that the long terms battle is about the strengthening of cohesive, prosperous and respectful societies. We deem it extremely important for the future and we are taking concrete measures. Internally this translates in a dual focus :

–    First : on security measures and capacity building efforts to counter all phenomena (such as trafficking) that could fuel, directly or indirectly, terrorism. In Albania our anti-trafficking measures have been deep and thorough.
–    Secondly we are focusing on a set of actions outlined in the recently adopted national strategy against violent extremism that aims at promoting educational methods and the kind of social interactions that have made of Albania a proudly tolerant country.

Before I conclude, let me make a final remark on the state of EU’s enlargement policy.
The above-mentioned issues have helped downgrade EU enlargement as a 2nd tier issue and we are all now feeling the heat of the EU debate about re-establishing borders and the end of Schengen.

Nevertheless, both the refugee crisis and the joint fight against terrorism make the Western Balkans and the EU experience first-hand their interdependence.

It is crucial to translate this interdependence into an “enhanced cooperation” with the Western Balkans, in order to help them successfully finalise their democratic state-building exercises.

The continuation of the “Berlin Process” and the pursuit of concrete regional deliverables as we prepare the Paris Summit of the Western Balkans will be particularly important in this regard.

Thank you!