President Begaj meets with the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković

As part of the state visit to Croatia, the President of the Republic, H.E.Mr. Bajram Begaj held a working lunch with the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković. President Begaj expressed his gratitude for the support that Croatia gave to Albania in overcoming the consequences of the devastating earthquake in November 2019, as well as during the period of Covid-19 pandemic. After congratulating Prime Minister Plenković on Croatia's latest achievements within the EU and for entering the Schengen area and the Eurozone, he underlined that Croatia remains the best example for Albania's European journey. In this context, President Begaj also expressed his gratitude for the support that Croatia has given to Albania's integration process with experts and expertise. Referring to the strategic partnership between the two countries, the two interlocutors underlined the traditionally excellent relations, as well as the need to advance them also within the framework of economic cooperation. “Despite the positive trends in terms of economic and trade cooperation, we are still far from exploiting the opportunities that exist in this direction” - President Begaj said. A special attention was also paid to the possibility of increasing cooperation in the field of tourism, where the common interest is the establishment of a direct air line Tirana-Zagreb, but also to create a connection between the port of Durrës with the ports of Croatia. Prime Minister Plenković assured President Begaj for the will of the Croatian side in advancing these projects of common interest. While in the framework of regional cooperation and European integration, President Begaj expressed gratitude for the support that Croatia has given to the process of European Union’s enlargement in the Western Balkans countries. President Begaj also appreciated the great contribution and support that Croatia has given to Kosovo in all aspects, including the support for its membership in regional and international organizations. “Croatia and your government have provided extraordinary support in this direction, and I assure you that Albanians are grateful for this support” - President Begaj underlined. The two interlocutors also focused on the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, as well as the impact of this aggression on the South-East Europe region or the risk posed by the interest of unfriendly third parties to incite riots and undermine the stability of the region.