Albanian Ambassador: Merkel’s visit, Germany’s attention on Balkan

07/07/2015 00:00

Artur Kuko, Ambassador of Albania in Germany, declard for Top Channel
that the visit of the Chancellor Angela Merkel is important because it
brings Albania back to the attention of Europe.

“This is the first visit of a German chancellor in Albania, after that of Schroeder in 1999. It can be considered as a historic one, that brings Albania to the attention of the European Union, despite the other developments that will keep having the attention for the developments outside Albania. This visit shows the attention that Federal Germany shows not only to Albania, but to Western Balkan too”, Kuko declared.

What are the aims of the German Chancellor with this visit in Albania and the region of Balkan?

Artur Kuko: As regards Albania, this visit aims to further promote the bilateral relations between our country and the Federal Republic of Germany. It is also a visit that aims to push these relations to a higher level, in the political, diplomatic and economic aspect. As for the region, this visit is of high value because I comes after the Berlin process which started last year with the conference held there by invitation of Chancellor Merkel. It is a visit that aims to consolidate the constructive relations that are being built in the region, and that aims to prepare the region for what they should expect from the continuity of the Berlin process at the Vienna Conference.

Ambassador Kuko thinks that there is no increased interest from Germany for the region recently. It is just a continuity of the German policy and presence in Western Balkan.

“It is not an increased interest, just a natural one. Germany has traditionally had a view that considers Western Balkan as a region of interest, part of Europe. I would mention the presence of Germany in the peace-keeping missions, such as ESFOR in Bosnia, KFOR in Kosovo. The German contribution in Albania for the past 25 years goes beyond 1 billion EUR. It is a natural development of the German policy to the region. Certainly, we should see the developments in other places around the region, such as the crisis for the annexing of Crimea, or the raise of extremism in Northern African and Middle Eastern countries”, Kuko declared.

The Albanian diplomat in Berlin says that the recent developments in Greece will not influence the visit of Merkel in the region.

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