TIRANA, March 12 /ATA/- The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhaçka participated in the “Reconciliatory dialogue in the Balkans” panel, focusing on open issues and integration of the region into the European Union at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Friday.
In her remarks, Foreign Minister Xhaçka praised EU for its work in the Western Balkan region. According to her, Russia’s aggression on Ukraine reconfirmed what Albania had been constantly repeating a long time ago, warning that third actors are intervening to undo all the achievements so far.
“For many years, not months, we kept talking with our European counterparts and raising the alarm about the danger of the Western Balkans and attempting to draw their attention to possible instability, in particular Russia, with its attempts to sabotage the Euro Atlantic perspective of the region. I recall discussing with all our European counterparts that the EU was not thinking strategically the perspective of our country and the bloc was not adopting a strategic approach to security and the European perspective of the region. Integration was stalled. The process we had launched, which was a merit-based one, even though we had fulfilled all the obligations, was being artificially suspended and this created a vacuum. The EU lost its credibility,” the Albanian diplomacy chief said.
Referring to Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, Xhaçka stressed that the EU should attach great importance to integration, which is essential for the security of the Western Balkans, and the acceleration of the process.
“Antalya Diplomacy Forum” is a high-level gathering of professionals who deal with diplomacy such as political leaders, diplomats, opinion makers or academics. It presents an excellent platform for regional and global actors from the spheres of diplomacy, policy, and business to exchange ideas and address international challenges.
/m.m/u.sh/
