The President’s press office said in a release that the meeting took stock of the current cybersecurity, challenges and threats facing the in this field, as well as the measures to strengthen Albania’s cyberdefence.

In his opening remarks, the President of the Republic recalled the fact that the country faced serious, complex and sophisticated cyberattacks last year in a bid to destroy digital infrastructure of Albania, paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from the government systems..

“These cyberattacks aimed at destroying digital infrastructure in order to incite instability. Our institutions succeeded in preventing perpetrators from achieving their goal,” the head of state said.

“The new law on cybersecurity and the national cybersecurity strategy will best help efforts to build modern and technologically advanced capacities in order to strengthen cyberdefense,” he said.

According to the press release by the President’s office, the meeting was attended by Parliament Speaker Lindita Nikolla, Prime Minister Edi Rama, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, Minister of Defense Niko Peleshi, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhaçka, Minister of Justice Ulsi Manja, Minister of Interior Bledi Çuçi, and the Minister of Finance and Economy, Delina Ibrahimaj.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Security, Nasip Naço, Chief of General Staff of the Albanian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Arben Kingji, State Police Director Muhamet Rrumbullaku, and the Director of the State Intelligence Service, Vlora Hyseni, also attended the meeting.

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The Deputy Prime Minister, also the Minister of Infrastructure and Economy, Belinda Balluku, who is attending the regional Summit, affirmed commitment of the Albanian government to work together with other countries in the region to deliver on the digital economy plans.

“Digital transformation is not simply a solution, but it is inevitable. Technology and digital solutions offer and deliver value in all sectors, in all aspects of our daily lives and work. This is the reason why it is important for us to press ahead with plans to introduce new technological solutions and deliver on new advances and of course the government should accommodate them, not only in our work processes, but also provide the necessary legal and regulatory framework to ensure their advancement,” Balluku said.

In this context – the Deputy Minister went on saying – “the government of Albania welcomes the start of dialogue between the EU and the Western Balkans, focusing on the legislative priority reforms, in line with the digital and green transformation goals.”

She also highlighted the Iran’s cyber-attacks against Albania’s government digital platforms recently, saying that the immediate response minimized damages and increased the system’s security.

“Unfortunately, our country has recently suffered a cyber attack, not by an individual or an ordinary hacker, but a coordinated and well-organized attack by another country. Of course, our response, with the great support of our strategic partners, has been immediate and complete, in order to reduce the damage of this attack, and also to increase the security of our digital system and our networks. I share this with you, as I strongly believe that this should serve as a moment of reflection on the work ahead of us to ensure the protection of our critical infrastructure, our systems, and the private and sensitive information of our citizens, and to stop such cyber attacks in the future,” Balluku said.

According to her, the government of Albania remains committed to the development of a secure digital infrastructure, and to undertake activities to improve cyber security cooperation within the region by increasing the protection of critical infrastructure, cyber security capacities, regional cyber security awareness with focus on prevention and detection of cyber threats, as well as fast and effective recovery.

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