Defence Minister Pirro Vengu said Albania aims to be a strong and reliable link in Europe’s security architecture. He spoke in an interview with EURACTIV on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Vengu said the region is not Europe’s security periphery. He described Southeast Europe as part of Europe’s nervous system. He stressed that growing threats require coordinated responses and stronger engagement.

He said EU enlargement toward Southeast Europe depends not only on candidate countries. It also depends on the EU’s geopolitical coherence and determination.

“If Europe wants strategic depth, it must admit countries that consistently help guarantee it,” Vengu said.

On defence priorities, he highlighted the need to strengthen the Armed Forces. He stressed speed and scale in innovation, production capacity, logistics, and reserves. He said resilience is first and foremost a national task.

“Resilience is a national duty before it becomes an allied responsibility,” he said. “A country cannot delegate its readiness.”

Vengu said Albania is taking concrete steps to strengthen its role in regional and European security. These include reviving dormant defence industry sectors, strengthening logistics corridors, and upgrading ports and connectivity infrastructure.

“Our goal is to be a reliable and predictable member state,” Vengu said. “We want to contribute to regional stability and European prosperity.”

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