TIRANA, July 13 – Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta has appealed for closer cooperation with neighboring Montenegro, a country aspiring Euro-Atlantic integration which hosts some 30,000 Albanians, accounting for an official 5 percent of its population.
In his visit to Montenegro this week, Speaker Ilir Meta was received by the President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, who expressed gratitude for Albania’s continuous support and ratification of protocol on Montenegro’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty by Albanian Parliament on June 23.
Interlocutors underlined the excellent relations between the two countries which serve as a model for the whole region of Balkans. Speaker Meta and President Vujanovic called for stronger collaboration between the two countries for the promotion of Euro-Atlantic integration processes and expansion of mutual economic and trade exchanges. In his remarks, Speaker Meta also addressed the issue of the Albanian national minority in Montenegro. He urged for solid solutions to the concerns of Albanian minority which are a keystone to the relations between the two countries.
During his visit to Montenegro, Speaker Meta was the first Albanian official to hold a speech in Albanian language. Addressing Montenegrin MPs at the Assembly, Meta said that Albania values its relations to Montenegro and welcomed the fact that he is the first Albanian who got the chance to speak at the Montenegrin Parliament in his native language with the newly provided Albanian language interpreting service.
Speaker Meta underlined that Montenegro’s accession to NATO and the country’s advances to Euro-Atlantic processes is crucial to peace and stability in the entire southeastern Europe. “This is a visionary step. I thank you for the realization of the vision of Montenegro as a modern country that is integrated into Euro-Atlantic structures,” said Meta, who at the end of his speech received a thunderous applause from present MPs.
However Meta’s visit was accompanied by several protests. Members of the pro-Serbian opposition entered the Assembly with banner reading “The people of Montenegro did not recognize you, Kosovo is the heart of Serbia.”
Meta told MPs of Nova and DNP parties that Albania is improving relationship with Serbia on a daily basis. “I assure you that we are focused to work together for the benefit of the region. And this, no doubt, applies to Serbia. I want to assure you that relations between Albania and Serbia are in satisfactory progress. We hope that they will reach the level of relations that we have with Montenegro,” Meta said. However, protesters decided to boycott his speech in the Montenegrin Parliament.
In regards to Kosovo, Meta praised Montenegro’s decision to recognize the independence of Kosovo. “Albanians will never forget the pledge of Montenegro which provided hospitality to thousands of Albanians from Kosovo in 1999, and made them feel welcome in Montenegro,” he concluded.
Meta was also received Prime Minister Äukanović to whom he presented Albania’s highest decoration – the National Flag Order, awarded by President of Albania Bujar Nishani to foreign officials for their contribution to boosting cooperation and strengthening stability in the region. Meta and Äukanović agreed on continuing strategic partnership at the bilateral level, but also within the regional framework which can open up the possibility of better infrastructure connections, improvement of economic cooperation and overall relations in the region. The two officials underscored that multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity play a significant role in that regard.
