The event was organized by the Parliament of Croatia, RACVIAC, DCAF and OSCE ODIHR, bringing together MPs, experts and representatives of security institutions from the countries of the region.

During the proceedings of the meeting, the participants discussed on the latest developments in the security environment in Southeast Europe and beyond, new challenges related to regional stability, hybrid threats, cybersecurity, as well as the need to strengthen cooperation between the countries of the region in addressing common challenges.

The discussions prioritized strengthening Parliamentary oversight of security and defense, improving accountability mechanisms and increasing the transparency of national security institutions.

Participation in this regional forum served as an important opportunity for the exchange of Parliamentary experiences and best practices, as well as for strengthening inter-Parliamentary cooperation. /gj.m/j.p/p.s./

In a statement to the media from Zagreb, Berisha said that the opposition will present to international partners its concerns regarding what he described as electoral autocracy in Albania and the obstacles to the European integration process.

Berisha stressed that the issues that will be raised are related to regional security, the integration process into the European Union, as well as the economic situation in the country.

According to him, Albania is facing serious problems that, in the opposition’s view, are related to the influence of organized crime on the economy and decision-making, as well as the weakening of the productive sectors.

On the sidelines of the IDU forum, Berisha has held meetings with several international personalities, including senior representatives of the participating countries and leaders of the organization and has discussed on the political situation in Albania and developments in the Balkan region. /m.q/j.p/p.s./

In his address, Peleshi called for enhanced regional connectivity to drive the Western Balkans’ European integration.

Commending the Croatian Parliament’s organization of the summit, Peleshi emphasized that amid new European uncertainties, such platforms are vital for strengthening regional economic, energy, and political ties.

He stated that the Western Balkans is not the periphery, but an integral part of Europe’s future, rooted in shared geography, culture, and political alignment.

Peleshi emphasized that Albania is strengthening more and more its role as a strategic bridge connecting the Adriatic and Ionian seas with European infrastructure, acting as a catalyst for stability and development.

He also took the opportunity to highlight the significance of major infrastructure and energy projects such as Corridor VIII and the Blue Corridor, as well as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and the planned Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline.

In this context, Peleshi stressed that the integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union is not simply a political issue, but a strategic necessity for Europe itself, as enlargement is directly related to the security and stability of the continent.

He also underlined the role of Albania as a factor of stability in the region and the significance of regional cooperation and Parliamentary diplomacy for strengthening the European project. /gj.m/a.f/p.s./

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlić-Radman as part of his visit to Zagreb, Foreign Minister Hasani called for utmost efforts to make sure that the Western Balkans joins the bloc as soon as possible.

“EU accession is Albania’s only future. The government, political establishment and whole Albanian society have no doubt about this future and Albania could be one of the unique cases with an entire pro-European political spectrum,” Hasani said.

Foreign Minister underlined that Albania should continue to deliver on reform efforts.

“We will support European political forces, because the future of our region lies with the EU and this vision enjoys the member states support, including Croatia,” he said.

The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Igli Hasani, began his official visit to Croatia earlier today with a key meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. During the discussions, Hasani conveyed Albania’s gratitude for Croatia’s steadfast support for the country’s European accession efforts.

Albanian diplomacy chief also met with the Croatian Foreign Affairs Minister, Gordan Grlić-Radman, and the two appeared at a joint press conference.

Foreign Minister Hasani will also attend opening ceremony of a photo exhibition entitled “Albanians in Croatia”.

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Important agreements on economy and health were signed as part of the cooperation between the two countries.

Croatia added up to the list of countries that have signed a deal on mutual recognition of the social insurance contributions, in order to make sure that Albanian citizens, wherever they live and work, do not lose their pension benefits. An agreement on recognition of social insurance contributions with Switzerland entered into force a day ago, whereas a similar agreement will be ratified with Italy on recognition of the social insurance contributions and pension rights soon, with thousands of Albanian nationals expected to benefit.

Albania and Croatia signed the Cooperation Plan between the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Albania and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Albania on Health for 2024-2026.

After the meeting and the ceremony of signing the agreements, Prime Minister Rama and the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković held a joint press conference.

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Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Plenković: Hello everyone! I would like to once again salute the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, who is on an official visit to the Republic of Croatia upon my invitation and I am very glad that I will have the chance to go on with this part of our conversation during lunch. Our conversation will also continue exactly in two weeks, when I will be visiting Albania again, as Albania will host the Berlin Process Summit, where Prime Minister Rama will be the host, just as he did when he hosted the EU and Western Balkans Summit last December.

We certainly praise such initiatives and such useful meetings aimed at advancing European integration processes.

Prime Minister Edi Rama: Honorable Prime Minister,

Dear Andrej,

First of all, and this is not for the sake of protocol formality, but to sincerely express my satisfaction, I would like to thank you for the hospitality, and for the open and direct dialogue approach, and for the extremely positive spirit of a relationship from which we constantly learn. We do always learn from it, because Croatia is an example of encouragement and inspiration – I wouldn’t overstate it if I were to put it that way – as we progress on the path towards the full-fledged accession to the European Union.

Croatia is an example of success, most recently with joining the eurozone and the Schengen area, and what Croatia has accomplished in one decade after joining the European Union, not only makes us happy, but it definitely encourages us. And I would like to add that such success makes us more demanding so that our friends in Zagreb can help us primarily with their experience that they have accumulated in a process that Croatia launched long before us and in which Croatia has built an impressive edifice of knowledge.

Hence, thanks to the Croatian government assistance, we have already received direct support in the process of the EU accession talks and we would also like to gain as much support as possible on acquiring knowhow about tourism, cyber security, active help in promoting and boosting employment, as well as about handling certain cases, including the current one related to some necessary corrections that we need to deliver on management of the EU funds for agriculture, as Croatia dealt with a similar case not too long ago, and we are very interested in learning about how  the Croatian government addressed this matter structurally.

On the other hand, we touched upon the topic of an important strategic sector, namely the energy sector and the infrastructure, since Albania and Croatia are both part of the same plan on the Adriatic-Ionian Corridor. The Premier informed us that the Croatian government has committed massive funding to support construction of the Croatian part of the Adriatic-Ionian Corridor. I informed Prime Minister Plenković that we too have embarked on the process of signing and finalizing the contracts on construction of the main segments of this Corridor and, of course, we also discussed how to involve Montenegro in this process.

In the meantime, we also discussed concrete ways on establishing a joint working group between the ministries of energy to address the Adriatic-Ionian gas pipeline issue, as time is ripe for us to bring together the potentials, the knowledge, the ideas and come up with a unified offer in terms of investment in this extremely important energy corridor, not only for the region but also for the whole Europe.

And, on the other hand, it is indisputable that together with Croatia we are also members of the Euro-Atlantic community, NATO members and fully align and share same positions regarding the Russian aggression on Ukraine and the imperativeness of the normalization of relations in the region and of a stable region in every aspect. And it is for these reasons that we focused on these topics too, as the Prime Minister already said.

Concluding, I would like to also touch upon the Berlin Process Summit due to be held in mid-October in Tirana, where Prime Minister Plenković will attend, as Croatia is one of the EU member states involved in this Process and Croatia is a staunch supporter of this process, being at the same time an important voice representing our whole region and the need for our voice to be heard more and better in Brussels, because, naturally, not only its position, but also the strategic interests of Croatia are associated and coupled with this very region’s progress. So, being very pleased that the Premier has already confirmed his presence in Tirana and being confident that the Summit will affirm several important new things regarding the region’s further progress on the path towards its accession to the EU, I would like to once again thank Andrej for the hospitality, the readiness to assist Albania with this country’s knowhow, as well as for the friendship and strategic partnership, which is really a very potential partnership and which we deem as one of our most important partnerships for the present and the future.

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