President Begaj Welcomes His Slovak Counterpart, Peter Pellegrini
President Bajram Begaj of the Republic of Albania today welcomed his Slovak counterpart, President Peter Pellegrini, who is the first Head of State from the Slovak Republic to visit Albania since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The meeting appreciated the excellent political relations, discussed Albania’s EU accession process, the advancement of economic cooperation, and the joint commitment to regional integration and stability.
President Begaj thanked President Pellegrini for Slovakia’s support to Albania during difficult times such as the pandemic and the 2019 earthquake, as well as ongoing support towards European integration.
“Slovakia has always been a vigorous and resolute supporter of the European Union’s expansion. It has provided assistance, expertise, and experience for our country’s integration processes into the European Union. We are grateful to Slovakia for its support!” praised President Begaj, who highlighted that Albania is currently undergoing transformation through reforms: “We are determined to move quickly and believe in a merit-based process.”
During the head-to-head meeting, as well as in the presence of respective delegations, commitments were highlighted to strengthen cooperation in all fields of mutual interest and benefit for the citizens of both states. “In our discussions, we emphasized the need to increase and expand economic cooperation and trade links between our two countries, which, although growing in recent years, remain at modest levels. We assess that there are concrete spaces and opportunities to further deepen economic cooperation,” stated President Begaj during the exchange of ideas with President Pellegrini on increasing economic and trade exchanges, attracting Slovak investors, increasing the number of tourists, and cooperation in the sectors of agriculture, environment, and health.
The heads of both states also discussed the development of the Balkans and integration into the European Union. Regarding Kosovo, the President of the Republic expressed gratitude to his counterpart that Slovakia has recognized the passports, while stating, “Albania hopes for Slovakia’s support for Kosovo’s membership in international organizations and for the possibility of revisiting its stance regarding the Republic of Kosovo.”
President Bajram Begaj reaffirmed that: “Albania’s position remains unchanged, a steadfast supporter of Kosovo, because Kosovo is part of the stability and contributes to stability in the Western Balkans, and of course, we will be its supporters for membership in international institutions, international organizations and in our work to enable as many new recognitions of Kosovo as possible and certainly to discuss with other countries that do not recognize Kosovo to look at alternatives, as is the case of Slovakia with the recognition of the travel document or passport that is recognized as a document.”
Taking the example of the 5 EU countries that do not recognize Kosovo, President Begaj emphasized the importance of continuing dialogue and discussions, expressing confidence that the EU enlargement process with all Western Balkan countries will enable the resolution of disputes.
