Rama addressed the 3rd NATO Cyber Defense Conference in Tirana, which brought together delegations from all 32 member states of the Alliance, represented by their Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, and “cyber ambassadors.”

The Prime Minister highlighted that Albania currently faces an average of one cyberattack every three minutes, yet successfully fends them off entirely.

“This isn’t about foresight—it stems from the most fundamental need for survival. Over the past year, we have recorded 48 attacks that left traces, but none resulted in any significant damage,” Rama stated.

The Prime Minister emphasized that “when it comes to our state infrastructure—whether digital or physical—we can proudly say that we are among the best.”

According to him, this is because “we were among the first to combine cyber defense with artificial intelligence. Our AI system within this cyber defense wall operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to detect potentially harmful attacks at very early stages,” Rama said.

Meanwhile, Rama noted that “if governments were judged based on real data about what they prevent from happening, people would have a better opinion of them.”

“Governments are credited or blamed for what they do right or wrong, but they are never recognized for what they manage to prevent. Yet prevention is not only part of their mission—it is a crucial part of it, involving countless efforts to stop terrible things from happening,” Rama said.

The Prime Minister also recalled the cyberattacks that the country had faced, which targeted its digital infrastructure.

Rama emphasized that these attacks were carried out at a time when Albania provides 95% of its public services online.

“We had to face, and suddenly found ourselves in the midst of, a severe and extensive cyberattack targeting our digital infrastructure—our source of pride,” Rama said. “We invested in our digital infrastructure for a crucial purpose: to make a leap forward and leave behind a difficult history of bribery. That was the goal of an extraordinary investment made with our scarce resources, and all that time and effort could have gone to waste in an instant. But we survived it,” he added.

/sm/