Albania and Montenegro focused today on regional stability. At the conference after the meeting in Tirana, Foreign Minister Olta Xhaçka and Montenegrin counterpart Đorde Radulović pledged to open other common border crossings as well as projects such as the Adriatic Ionian. Xhaçka and Radulovi assured for the treatment of minorities according to international and European law.

“It is a special pleasure to welcome in Tirana my counterpart Đorđe Radulović, the Foreign Minister of a neighboring and friendly country such as Montenegro.

 I thank Minister Radulović for the visit and for the opportunity we had to discuss closely the relations between us, but also for the situation in the region where excellent relations between our countries have long been a factor of stability and security but also a model for the region.

I am pleased that the relationship between us has marked a marked progress and intensification in recent years. Montenegro’s membership in NATO, which Albania has fully supported and to which the Albanians of Montenegro have an inalienable contribution, has directly contributed to expanding the dimension of cooperation between us but also to consolidating the Euro-Atlantic perspective of region. Albania considers Montenegro an important regional partner, an irreplaceable ally in NATO and in the whole process of EU membership,” said Xhaçka.

Mrs Xhaçka expressed the willingness to further deepen the dialogue and communication between Albania and Montenegro, to advance the common agenda of stability and integration.

“We had the opportunity to discuss the deepening of bilateral relations, where an essential part of our discussion was the implementation of agreements signed at the first meeting of the two governments, the opening of new border crossings, increased investment and projects in cross-border areas, with an impact direct in increasing the welfare of this area, road transport, water, rail with a focus on their inclusion with European corridors, as well as the creation of joint tourist packages.

Beyond these projects, in the framework of intergovernmental cooperation, I appreciate the commitment of our two governments for joint applications for EU funds to improve interconnection, various road axes, scientific, cultural, educational cooperation, etc. Let us turn Lake Shkodra into a developed and quality point of attractive tourism and this was one of the topics we discussed,” Xhaçka added.

She also stated that minorities also play a special role in the relations between the two countries. “We are proud that the Albanians in Montenegro and the Montenegrin minority in our country have continuously played the role of a unifying element, which further enriches our national societies. In this context, we believe that the increase of Montenegrin investments in areas inhabited by the Albanian population, the increase of the representation of Albanians in the central and local government, the increase of political representation in the Parliament of Montenegro amid the adoption of the electoral law would serve to strengthen of mutual trust between citizen and government and between different ethnicities. Finally, the signing today of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Diplomatic Academies of our two ministries will concretize the increase of cooperation, not only through the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, but also through our own diplomats,” said Xhaçka.

/Klara Ruci/