Albania 10 years in NATO, Xhaçka: Just as for the Alliance we will be asset and partner even for the EU

Published: Friday, 29 March 2019 15:59

Albania celebrated the 10th Anniversary of NATO Membership in a ceremony at Mother Teresa Square in Tirana, attended by President of the Republic Ilir Meta, Prime Minister Edi Rama, Defence Minister Olta Xhaçka, the Italian Defence Minister Elisabeta Trenta, the North Macedonian Defence Minister Radmila Sekerinska and Defence Minister of the Republic of Kosovo Rrustem Berisha.

The ceremony was also attended by the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Bardhyl Kollçaku, his Turkish and Greek counterparts, as well as many guests.

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Hereinafter is the full speech of Minister Xhaçka:

Honorable President of the Republic, Mr. Meta!
Honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Rama!
Honorable Ministers, Deputies, your Excellency Ambassadors, Generals and Admirals!
Dear soldiers,
Ladies and gentlemen!

Today is the 10th Anniversary of Albania’s NATO Membership. For us it is not just a birthday. It's really a beautiful day to celebrate, but above all it's a day when we all have the right to feel proud!

Today, we have the right to feel proud of the great work that has been done to deserve our place as a member of the largest military alliance in history. But we have the right to feel equally proud of the work we have done all together in these 10 years to justify the trust we have been given to us to modernize our Armed Forces and to become a factor of stability and a benchmark for security in the region.

Owing to this work, Albania is not merely a NATO Member, but a trusted partner, as former US Secretary of Defence James Mattis declared “punches above its weight”.

Today, Albania is the living proof that even a small, limited-access country can become an asset for an alliance like NATO. This was hard to be believed 10 years ago, but today Albania is a security exporter, participating in NATO-led initiatives and missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Aegean Sea, at NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Latvia. We are participants in EU-led operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mali, while recent preparations are currently underway to take part in operations under the UN leadership in South Sudan.

There are almost 5000 Armed Forces men and women engaged in NATO missions over the years. Today as we talk, there are 600 military men and women engaged in Alliance operations and Commands each year, which makes our contribution amongst the highest in proportion to the size of the Armed Forces!
This year is very important for us because it marks the 10th Anniversary of NATO Membership, but also because Albania will chair almost all Regional Alliance Initiatives. This contribution of Albania as a pillar of stability, as a security exporter and a committed partner to the values of the Alliance's mission is acknowledged and evaluated by all allies, and this is an important reason why in Kuçova there will soon start the work for the largest investment and the first NATO Air Base in our region, an investment that consolidates Albania’s importance as a strategic asset for the Alliance. Anyone who knows Albania, whoever who knows Albanians, knows that there is a very simple reason why we contribute so passionately, with such determination and energy, to fulfil our obligations as NATO members.

For many, NATO is above all an organization focused on collective defence, military co-operation and the search for security. YES! For Albanians, NATO is the Alliance that brought freedom to Albanians in Kosovo 20 years ago. However, for us NATO membership has been and remains far more than simply a security issue. NATO membership was for Albanians above all a certification of their European and Western vocation. It was a return home, in the great family of European and Western nations, in the family of democratic states.

Years ago, before Albania became a member of the Alliance, I remember when discussing the great support of Albanians for NATO Membership, which even in the worst case amounted to over 90%, there were many who said Albanians did not understand well that membership had its positive side but even its own costs. Albania was not ready and the Albanians understood NATO membership almost as a magical formula to take advantage of the participation in the Alliance without wanting to do their homework.

They are arguments that we hear even today. It is a scepticism that we face today when we are in a critical moment in the process of integration into the European Union. I believe that the sceptics are wrong today, as they were wrong in the past. What has happened after our NATO membership is the most important proof that they are mistaken. Albanians were well aware of the work and challenges they were about to face. We were all very much aware that membership marked the fulfilment of a major strategic objective of an objective that, together with EU membership comprised the strategic axis of post-communist Albanian foreign policy. Membership was not the end but the beginning of a great deal of work in every area of the country's life: in the field of Defence and Security, undoubtedly, but also for the modernization of the country, for its development and Europeanization, to enforce the rule of law. Because, as I pointed out, for us, membership in NATO was above all a membership in a family that shares the same values, the same vision for the country and society.

I have no doubt that we will continue to work with the same commitment and to face the challenges of integration into the European Union and I believe that as we demonstrated that sceptics were wrong about Albania's NATO membership, we will know to prove that they are also mistaken about Albania's readiness and willingness to meet any obligations related to European integration.

And as we managed to become a success story of a reliable partner and stability factor for the Alliance, we will know how to become a partner and asset for the European Union as well.

And recently, a few years from today, when Albania is going to celebrate another anniversary of membership, no matter who will be in charge of these duties, I am convinced that all of us will have managed to succeed not only in accomplishing many of the goals for which we are working on today, but we will be able to prove to all sceptics who are wrong and to prove to all friends and supporters what they already know: the will of Albanians to Europeanise and modernize their country, the willingness to return to the European family, to the family of democratic states where we belong.

Today I want to thank each of you who have contributed to the accomplishment of this strategic goal of Albanians. To our strategic partners for the invaluable support for the education, training and modernization of our force, as well as to any soldier for the hard work and especially to your families who have sacrificed you and supported you with all the difficulties, yet unfulfilled needs, or long absences.

Thank you for your service and contribution from everyone’s heart!