"Where there are dormant conflicts, the risk of reawakening exists", this was the answer given by Defense Minister Niko Peleshi when asked by journalists in Korça, regarding the statement of Ukrainian President Zelenski, who warned that a war could start in the Balkans . According to him, "the Balkans would be more stable if we were all part of the Alliance and the border with the threatening east was clearly defined".
"This is not the context, I believe, but there is still a truth that after the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the geopolitical situation, stability has been hit. We have a return to what we thought would not happen, in the politics of areas of influence, but here is the Russian aggression in Ukraine brought it and this brings us a shock of many balances while in regions like the Western Balkans where there are dormant conflicts, the risk of reawakening exists. Three out of 6 countries of the Western Balkans are members of NATO, Kosovo is an aspirant country, all countries want to become part of the EU. There are countries like Serbia that call themselves neutral countries, that if it were different, the Balkans would be more stable where we would all be part of the Alliance and the border with the threatening east of was clearly defined. We are not in that state, so we are constantly interested and concerned about the developments in Ukraine, because we have seen that after the war, some foci of tension have been reactivated there. We have the aggression of September 24, an aggression that deserves it is called a terrorist. These are signs of a threat not so big as to talk about war, but we still have to be careful."
According to Pelesh, the balances have changed. "Albania, as a member of NATO, is one of the first countries in NATO that with this budget reaches 2% of GDP in the coming year, which gives us more opportunities to modernize, not to prepare for war, because we don't we think this scenario is negligible, due to the presence of NATO in the region and KFOR in Kosovo. Defense today is realized through discouragement, the more NATO and each of its allies are militarily strengthened, through the increase of capacities, the higher we push the worst scenarios. The world is changing, Albania is moving towards a rapid integration into the EU, EU membership is the long-term guarantee for the Western Balkans" (A2 Televizion)
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