President Dr Türk pays an official visit to the Republic of Albania

Tirana, 19.2.2009  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, and his wife Barbara Mikliè Türk arrived yesterday for a two-day official visit to the Republic of Albania. After a reception ceremony with military honours on the first day of his visit, Dr Türk first held a tête-à-tête discussion with his host, Albanian President Dr Bamir Topi, followed by plenary discussions between the Slovenian and Albanian delegations headed by the two presidents.

The presidents focused particularly on relations between the two countries, which are excellent and developing satisfactorily. Dr Türk said that his visit to Albania, where he arrived accompanied by a sizeable delegation of Slovenian businessmen, was an ambitious one since it aims to raise bilateral relations between Albania and Slovenia to a new level. He explained that the Slovenian economic delegation included representatives of businesses from all major areas of Slovenia's economy and that some of them already maintained successful business relationships with their Albanian counterparts. The Albanian President welcomed the visit of Dr Türk and of the Slovenian economic delegation, and stressed that there were still ample possibilities for more intensive cooperation in the area of economic relations and foreign direct investments.

Dr Türk expressed Slovenia's support of Albania in its process of integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and said that Slovenia's parliament had only a short time ago ratified Albania's NATO accession protocol. He also declared himself in favour of Albania's accession to the European Union and expressed his support of Albania's efforts to achieve a liberalisation of the EU’s visa regime for its citizens. According to Dr Türk, it is a natural expression of freedom of movement as a fundamental human right and, at the same time, an essential element of the EU accession process. President Topi thanked Slovenia for its support of Albania’s endeavours to join the EU and NATO, and stressed that in the process of integration into the European Union Albania must undertake additional efforts to strengthen its institutions. The Slovenian President made a positive assessment of preparations for the June parliamentary elections in Albania and expressed his hope that the elections would run smoothly and in accordance with democratic standards. He also expressed the hope that Albania would soon become a candidate country for European Union membership and added that Slovenia is willing to give assistance at the political level and provide technical assistance.

The two presidents also discussed the situation in the region. President Türk noted that in difficult times of instability in the Balkans and during the Kosovo crisis Albania positioned itself as a constructive European country and as a factor of stability in South Eastern Europe. President Türk and President Topi shared the view that significant progress has been achieved in Kosovo; nevertheless, clear priorities must be set for the future. The main priority is to strengthen Kosovo’s institutions, democracy and the rule of law, which will pave the way towards progress, development and ethnic understanding in Kosovo as well as towards achieving full integration of Kosovo into the international community.


Interview with President of the Republic of Slovenia for Albanian Top Channel TV