Dear colleague Gjiknuri,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to this event organized jointly with the Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Energy Community Secretariat, in the framework of the Energy Community Ministerial.

As I was preparing for this activity, it reminded me of the beginnings of the European Union, as a project based on one key element: Energy. The EU has recognized major transformational changes in these 60 years – from the European Coal and Steel Community to the Third Energy Package.

Energy, once the apple of discord between neighbors, served as a catalyst for forging a history of unification of the entire continent. From this perspective, the history of Europe’s energy security is the history of efforts for the continent’s pacification.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the continent’s reunification process, efforts to improve the European energy infrastructure and diversify energy resources have blurred the division between the East and West, but have not yet managed to blur another division, that between the South and the North.

The EU has understood the importance of a strategic approach to the energy sector in this part of Europe. Because energy is inextricably linked to security. As events of the past two years have shown (crisis in Ukraine, Syria, the agreement with Iran, the unrest of Maghreb countries, the unstoppable flow of refugees toward the European space), the South and Southeast wing of Europe are still at risk to be devoured by other potential crises.

Surely, for Albania, as an EU candidate country and NATO member, energy is an important element not only for its security dimension, but also for the economy of the country and the region. Ensuring the energy supply and economic development of the region is increasingly dependent on the development of energy networks and regional infrastructure.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The region is experiencing a political moment marked by initiatives and processes which are especially focused on energy security, among which:

• The Berlin Process

• Establishment of the Central East South Europe Gas Connectivity (CESEC) as well as the

• Energy Union Package of the EU.

The energy interconnection through Energy Community projects aims at focusing investments on key projects which link energy networks in the Western Balkans.

For us, the Southern Energy Corridor, which is in full compliance with EU policies, and in particular TAP (and IAP in a later stage), will enable the inclusion of Albania in the international energy network and its transformation into a country which makes better use of its energy potential.

This pipeline is only the first step in the right direction: more alternative energy sources for the region and the EU market. Thus, TAP has all the attributes to become a successful element of the EU neighborhood policy.

In addition to TAP, so far we have discussed, planned and designed a series of other pipelines in our region, which have one thing in common: they are all virtual.

Virtual pipelines have recently been used as a quick response to multidimensional challenges and crises which threaten the European security architecture.

Thus, the EU should pay more attention to the issue of energy interconnectivity, because currently, the Western Balkans resembles a series of isolated energy islands. Better energy interconnectivity will enable the region to integrate into the European energy network and to better withstand potential shocks of energy supply.

Existing energy interconnection projects are not enough to strengthen the Energy-Security node in the Western Balkan region. Energy interconnection is possible only if supported by an EU development package for our region.

It is vital to have a clear view, supported by financial means, so that these isolated islands become an archipelago of energy.

Apart from the EU, countries in our region must redesign their energy policies and at the same time, the repositioning of the energy sector in line with changes taking place in the ever-changing energy context of the EU and the world.

Therefore, it is important to work together – the EU and Energy Community countries- in order to:

– Accelerate the construction of missing infrastructural gas lines,

– Best use of existing infrastructure and,

– Address other technical and regulatory issues which hinder supply security and the development of a fully integrated and competitive energy market.

This will help to pave the way for a more connected energy market, where energy can freely flow across the borders of countries in our region and be included in EU energy networks.

The road ahead is not free of obstacles: high fragmentation in the energy sector and insufficient regional cooperation constitute some of them. Hence, there is a need for a common energy platform that enables closer energy cooperation in the region, and which can be accomplished within the framework of the Energy Community.

Indeed, the connection of the Western Balkans’ energy islands will help in forming a true region from the economic and energy standpoint; thus, a region which prepares to be part of the EU in the economic and political sense, within a broader context of energy security.

Thank you!