At the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Italy, Angelino Alfano, in the capacity of the Chairman of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group for 2017, was held in Palermo, Italy, on 24-25 October, the OSCE Mediterranean Conference. This conference was also attended by a delegation headed by Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ms. Artemis Dralo.

The OSCE Mediterranean Conference 2017 and in particular the High Level Political segment focused on the issue of migration in the Mediterranean and on the challenges to manage the migrant crises in the Mediterranean basin and beyond. The Conference provided the OSCE participating States and Mediterranean Partners with an opportunity to exchange views, experiences, best practices and lessons learned with a view to exploring cooperative approaches to issues posed by increased migration in both transit and receiving countries.

Deputy. Minister Dralo pointed out that the OSCE and Mediterranean countries can play an important role in terms of regional cooperation. This is seen as a valuable platform for dialogue and cooperation between countries of origin, transit and receiving countries, to stop, cope with the immigrants who are heading to Mediterranean, integrate and repatriate them. Deputy. Minister Dralo stated that Albania is of the opinion that confronting this phenomenon requires extensive, concrete cooperation and solidarity. In order to eliminate the causes of migration, the migration phenomenon should be attacked to its roots,- Ms.Dralo underscored. She added that this phenomenon should be treated in accordance with international laws and norms in full compliance with human rights.