Albania’s Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Megi Fino made the statement during a joint press conference with Josip Brkić, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country that will take over the chairpersonship.

Fino focused in her speech on the priorities and achievements of the Albanian chairmanship, while highlighting the open door policy.

“Established in 2003, in 21 years of its existence it has confirmed its special value as a valuable forum for regional policy on security issues, contributing significantly to the efforts for the Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries of Southeast Europe over the past two decades,” said Fino.

Fino emphasized that today 3 out of 4 Charter countries are allied countries, while Bosnia and Herzegovina is an aspiring country for NATO membership.

“We also welcomed the Charter observer countries, Kosovo, Serbia and Slovenia, with the status of guest, as a clear example of the open door policy and regional inclusiveness in this initiative,” she said.

Fino emphasized that the focus of the Albanian chair during this year has been more coordination and cooperation between A-5 member and observer countries for the regional confrontation of hybrid threats, as a multidimensional threat to our region and beyond, especially in light of the cyber attacks of recent years against several Charter countries.

“Today’s meeting served to exchange views on the prospects of our region, at a time when the Western Balkans region is facing increased tensions as well as the consequences of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. We discussed the possibilities to further strengthen our cooperation against hybrid and especially cyber threats in light of these attacks that have affected our region in recent years,” she said.

Fino also underlined the necessity of further strengthening regional cooperation for the benefit of security and strongly condemned the terrorist attack of November 30 in northern Kosovo, demanding that this criminal act be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.

“We asked the future presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to get committed to Kosovo’s membership in the A-5, during its presidency, as a necessity for the security of the entire region,” Fino said. /r.e/p.s./

This ministerial was co-chaired by Minister of Defense of Albania Pirro Vengu, with the special participation of the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander.

In a joint statement with Wallander, at the end of the US-Adriatic Charter ministerial held in Tirana, Vengu expressed to Assistant Secretary of Defense Wallander the gratitude of the Albanian government for the invaluable commitment of the US to political, security and defense developments in our country, but also in the entire Western Balkans region.

Minister Vengu shared at the end of this ministerial the main topics of discussions between senior representatives of the US-Adriatic Charter Initiative.

Vengu emphasized that this year’s ministerial turned into a pole of regional cooperation in the field of security and defense.

Part of the A-5 ministerial discussions was also the recent attack in northern Kosovo.

“We paid attention to the criminal attack a few days ago in Zubin Potok against the critical infrastructure of the Republic of Kosovo. While I take the opportunity to reiterate our solidarity with the state of Kosovo, all countries condemned this dangerous attack for regional security and stability and demanded that those responsible be brought to justice”, emphasized Minister Vengu.

Among other things, in these discussions, according to the Minister of Defense, there was also talk of re-energizing the Adriatic Charter, given the geopolitical dynamics and the continuous change in the strategic security environment.

Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of Defense Wallander said that,

“The US vision is certainly for peace and stability. Today’s discussion went to the heart of these ideas and to Russia’s harsh intervention in Ukraine. We have laid a good foundation for what we will do in 2025. Everything counts from actions, not from the words we say,” she emphasized.

Wallander highlighted cooperation between the states that are part of the Adriatic Charter.

During 2024, Albania welcomed a series of high-level political-military events and specifically the US-A5, becoming a hub for regional cooperation in the field of Security and Defense. /j.p/p.s./

The conference will focus on developments and dynamics in the security environment in the region and beyond, increasing Defense spending above the 2% threshold of Gross Domestic Product as a way to meet the Alliance’s capacity objectives and the NATO planning and review objectives for the partner countries.

Attending the conference are representatives of the A-5 signatory countries: USA, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, while representatives from Kosovo and Slovenia are also present in observer status.

Also attending are the commander of the NATO Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, as well as the adjutants of the respective US National Guard Partnership Program states (New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota, Vermont, Maine), State Observer Partnership Program states (Ohio, Colorado, Iowa). /a.f/p.s./