TIRANA, June  1 /ATA/ President of the Republic of Hungary, Katalin Novak, stated on Thursday that “we want Albania to be officially part of Europe, we need Albania to be part of the European Union.”

In her address to the Parliament of Albania, Novak said that “not only you need the EU, but also we Hungarians and all EU nations need you to be part of the EU.”

Further, Novak said that “I will try to do as much as possible to develop the diplomatic relations between the two countries. We have maintained a very friendly relationship with Albania, Albanians and Hungarians, we understand and support each other.”

President Novak said that “I have come at a critical time here in Albania. Europe is in peril, it is having a hard time facing unprecedented challenges.  Of these, I want to emphasize the war in Ukraine and the consequences of this war, the Western Balkans, its stability and importance, irregular migration, the demographic challenges as well as the political power of Europe, which is in doubt about what place Europe will have in world politics.”

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Novak said that “everyone was taken aback by what happened in Ukraine. Russia’s decision to attack its neighbor has put us in a new situation. We support the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Ukraine and  the refugees forced to flee the country due to the war.”

“As neighbors of Ukraine, we have helped 2 million refugees so far, although most of the immigrants did not stay for a long time in Hungary,” added Novak.

Novak said that “we need talks instead of weapons, we want to see families united instead of refugees, we want to see new births instead of fatalities .” We want to see a path to peace.”

Regarding stability, peace and security in the Western Balkans, Novak emphasized that “now our eyes are on Ukraine, but we forget how important it is for the Western Balkans to live in peace and security. Let’s look at Kosovo or Bosnia-Herzegovina and see how difficult the situation is and how little it takes for the tension to flare up. Therefore, it is very important for us to maintain stability, peace and security in the countries of the Western Balkans.”

“There are Hungarian soldiers deployed in Kosovo, in KFOR we have over 400 soldiers, 20 of them were injured in the recent attacks, most of them are in the hospital. The situation can turn into aggression and we want to avert this at all costs. I am convinced that EU integration is crucial for stability of the Western Balkans. I am also convinced that European integration will lead us to peace and stability throughout Europe, because the peace and security of Europe depend on the Western Balkans, so we need European integration as soon as possible,”  Novak said.

/sm/