Adriatic Charter, Vengu: Albania invests in NATO-like military infrastructure
The US-Adriatic Charter (A-5) Chiefs of Staff Conference is being held in Tirana. In his speech at the conference, the Minister of Defense, Pirro Vengu, emphasized Albania's determination to strengthen international partnerships in order to achieve common goals. Vengu said that our country is strongly committed to the field of military investments with the aim of achieving an infrastructure that is in line with NATO criteria.
The full speech of the Minister of Defense, Pirro Vengu:
Honorable Generals of the United States, of the Adriatic Charter Initiative, and our friends from the United States National Guard.
Welcome once again to Albania, dear ambassadors, officials in all your ranks and responsibilities.
It is an honor to welcome you once again for the second year in a row, this time acknowledging that it comes as a result of the lack of consensus among member states, however, I believe this should be emphasized, based on the temperature of the region.
Let me tell you with confidence that in Albania you will always find a consensus builder and a reliable partner in pursuing our common goals.
The Adriatic Charter was born from a vision of cooperation, stability and a shared Euro-Atlantic destiny; its principles remain unchanged, but in a rapidly changing strategic environment, we must adapt and renew its mission.
For Albania, the Charter is not just another regional initiative, as we have many, but it is a catalyst for practical cooperation and collective resilience, as I had the opportunity to emphasize yesterday. The participation of the United States makes it a very important initiative.
The decisions taken at the Hague Summit give us a unique opportunity to take on more responsibility for our regional security and to assume more responsibilities within NATO and the EU.
To remain relevant and credible, we will act decisively in five key areas:
1. Increasing financial resources for our defense budgets,
2. Expansion of the defense industry and military production,
3. Gaining lethal and dual-use capabilities to modernize our Armed Forces.
4. Investing in critical infrastructure and capacity of host countries to strengthen resilience and
5. Strengthening interoperability with allies and partners through training, exercises and operations.
Albania is moving decisively on this path by increasing Defense Spending, revitalizing our industrial bases, and investing in infrastructure in accordance with NATO and EU criteria.
Our goal is to position Albania as a reliable center for the Defense Industry, a center of intersection, connectivity and military interaction, military mobility throughout Southeast Europe, in the Adriatic region, in an area of undeniable strategic importance for Euro-Atlantic security.
In this context, we believe that NATO and the EU should support political determination, strategic vigilance, and military engagement in our region.
Albania remains committed to reconciliation, stability and cooperation, and this is why around 500 troops in our NATO and EU missions are deployed in KFOR, in ALTEA, while our contributions in Latvia and Bulgaria signal that we also take the threats on the eastern flank seriously.
As for Ukraine, we will continue our political support, we will continue our military contributions to Interflex, NSATU and JATEC.
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