Fully committed to making the region of the Western Balkans an open space of cooperation, Albania has and continues to play an active, moderate and constructive role in the process of regional cooperation, supporting and promoting all-inclusiveness, people to people contacts and connectivity.
A Member of NATO and a candidate country to the European Union, Albania is increasingly becoming a central regional player working for more and strengthened security, a guarantee for political stability and regional economic growth. The main goal is to contribute actively to strengthening the good neighborly relations and regional integration, and invest in peace and prosperity for the Balkans, the Mediterranean and Europe. In the same vein, Albania encourages Albanians in the region, to become promoters of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration and democratic processes in the countries where they live.
For Albania, regional cooperation goes beyond the political will of good neighborliness. It acquires it true meaning through concrete and palpable efforts for creating a common regional infrastructure, removing all non-physical barriers for the free movement of people, goods and capital, increasing exchanges, promoting people to people contacts, knowing each other better and jointly committing to change the image of the region, to turn it into an attractive and competitive market.
Strengthening the regional infrastructure network as well as their connection to European and Euro-Asian infrastructure networks will positively affect the development dynamics in the region, making it safer, increasing its geo-economic dimension, considerably expanding the market and boosting the interest for foreign investments.
A Western Balkan region economically interdependent and interconnected with neighboring countries within a wider area comprising Italy, Greece and Turkey, countries and regional actors within mutual and historical interests, sharing natural, traditional and strategic relations, provides for a new dynamic of development and prosperity which feeds into European integration, but also for ensuring regional and inter-regional markets for the European Union.
Albania maintains that the Western Balkans region will move ahead by strengthening security and ensuring peace and stability, investing in democratization of respective societies, through joint fight against organized crime and trafficking, meeting the highest standards of security and integrated management of borders, which can be achieved faster through a more coordinated regional cooperation of law enforcement agencies with the assistance of the European Union.
Security in the energy sector through the construction and modernization of regional interconnection networks, ensuring oil and gas networks from East to West through Balkan Routes, will increase the specific role of the region as an important actor for the future of the EU itself and ensure its safety from the dependence on energy, but above all, in terms of security, peace and welfare of its own people.
Following the Sofia Summit on 10 November 2020, the leaders of the Western Balkans recognised the need to better integrate economically the Western Balkans – amongst themselves and with the EU. They launched the Common Regional Market initiative, which is structured around the four freedoms (free movement of goods, services, capital and people) while also covering aspects of digital, investment, innovation and industry policy. This makes it the most ambitious regional integration effort to date in the Western Balkans.
The Common Regional Market represents a stepping-stone to integrate the region more closely with the EU Single Market already before accession. This is key for the region to leverage its privileged relation with the EU. Regional economic integration based on EU rules and closer association to the EU Single Market will help the Western Balkans in the accession process. At the same time, the accession process and the gradual compliance with the EU acquis will help strengthen intra-regional integration.
Albania supports the high-level dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia facilitated by the European Union, which should lead to normalization of relations and mutual recognition as a further important boost for a new era between them and the entire region.
