TIRANA, April 13 /ATA/ “The Southeast Europe Inter-parliamentary Forum of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly” took place on Saturday in Tirana with the participation of parliamentary delegations from Southeast Europe.

Parliament Speaker Lindita Nikolla, who took the opening floor of this forum hailed the organization of this forum in Tirana, adding that “Albania is an active member of the organization.”

“Other than the active role of the parliamentary delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly, we have materialized this contribution during the Chairmanship in 2020, when, a critical period for peace and security was compounded by the pandemic-triggered setbacks.

The experience during the Presidency of the Organization served us as a catalyst for the success as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during the years 2022-2023, which established Albania as an outstanding protagonist in international affairs and multilateral diplomacy, in defense of peace, security, human rights and freedom of nations,” she said.

Nikolla said that “the OSCE, through its Presence in Albania, has been and remains a powerful and trustworthy partner, in support of deep and comprehensive reforms, towards the consolidation of the values of democratic institutions, integration into the European Union, the fight against corruption, human trafficking and increasing the contribution to security and peace in the region, continent and beyond.”

According to the parliament speaker, “the different speeds of the democratization and integration processes have carried and may continue to carry implications for stability, peace and security, in the region and beyond.”

“Therefore, the more our countries develop and the sooner our countries integrate, the better they can address the threats coming from outside the region, but also from the inertia and rekindling of the consequences or nationalist demons within it. Democratization, security and Europeanization develop in parallel and support each other along the way,” she emphasized.

Nikolla underlined that “the OSCE is not only a factor in safeguarding peace and security, but also fosters modernization of the countries of our region.”

“The Albanian people is the most pro-Euro-Atlantic people in the region and this fact explains why Albania is determined to follow only Plan A for its future, which is the European Union journey. In this context, we stand firm to face and stop the influence of non-western powers in the region, as a service for the peace, stability and Europeanization of our countries”, she said.