Speech by EU Ambassador Silvio Gonzato at the “I Love EU” Networking Event

Your excellencies, Ministers and deputy Ministers, Members of the Parliament, ambassadors, representatives of the International Community in Tirana, dear colleagues from the EU Delegation in Albania, dear friends,

Thank you for being here with us tonight for an evening in which we would like to celebrate the partnership between the EU and Albania.

There is no doubt that we live in complex and challenging times (the fourth anniversary to Russia’s war of aggression is only a few days away and the situation in Gaza continues to be marked by the suffering of the civilian population due to indiscriminate bombing and lack of adequate humanitarian assistance, to quote only two examples).

However, I am convinced that precisely at times like these we need to remind ourselves of the values we believe in and stand for, in this troubled world.

We need to celebrate these values. This is why we chose the slogan “I love EU”, no matter how naïve it may sound, to mark tonight’s gathering.

Allow me to take a few minutes to reflect on it.

I can certainly and unashamedly say that I love the EU and feel privileged to have dedicated a lifelong career to it.

I am equally certain that this sentiment is shared byall of us, including and, I would say in particular, by our Albanian friends.

Now more than ever, we need to remind ourselveswhy our Union is so important, and why we should do our utmost to protect it from today’sunprecedented challenges.

First and foremost, as I said from the very beginning of my mandate here in Albania, the EU is a community of values. It is more than just a legal framework regulating the relations between a group of states, or a single market. It is “founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights” and unites Member States “in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail”.

You probably have often heard these words, quotedfrom Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, but they are worth recalling, particularly tonight. They spell out the foundations of our Union, an ever closer and ever evolving Union. These foundations have accompanied us throughout the journey thatstarted with the Treaty of Rome and it is these same foundations that have allowed us to weather so many crises in the last decades.

These values were formulated after centuries-long confrontations and wars, when our founding fathers (and mothers!) realised it was time to turn the page on rivalry and write the book of partnership.

To the citizens of the countries that have since joined the EU, after the fall of dictatorships and the fall of the Iron Curtain, the EU was a promise and a guarantee that their societies would be based on these core values and that their countries would become, as they did, more secure, more democratic and more prosperous.

For me, the fact that Albania now wants so resolutely and unconditionally to join the European Union is a powerful endorsement of these values. This is why, Albania’s accession to the European Union is not important just for Albania but also for the Union itself.

Furthermore, an enlarged EU contributes to deepening the integration between its Member Statesand pushing for a more consolidated and a more agile structure.

Dear friends,

the EU has always been firm in defending thesevalues also internationally, by supporting a rules-based order, standing up for international law and advocating a multilateral approach to the multiple global challenges our world faces. This is something we share with Albania. And I can say it without doubts, having worked side by side with my Albanian counterparts (and friends) in New York.

Safeguarding multilateralism is a guarantee that dialogue prevails over confrontation, diplomacy over force, and that each country, regardless of its size and might, has its dignified place on the international stage.

This why the United Nations, regardless of itsshortcomings, is so important – because it embodiesthe very principles of peace, cooperation, and respect for human rights, enshrined in its Charter.

As HRVP Kallas has underlined, “No country, regardless of its size or power, can tackle today’s complex global challenges alone.” From peace and security to sustainable development and the promotion of human rights, collective solutions are the only viable path forward. And our collective history has taught us at a painful price that isolationism and unilateralism breed instability.Albania too has a core interest in upholding the international rules-based international order and in promoting the multilateral approach.

In its history since becoming an independent country, Albania has learnt how difficult it is to protect this independence in unfavourable international circumstances and the tragic costs which isolationand oppression bring.

So rather than creating alternative structures to the United Nations, our commitment should be to reform it, to align it better with the principles on which it is founded.

But enough about us!

Today we are here to celebrate the progress made by Albania in the accession negotiations. I believe it is opportune here to pay tribute both to the whole Albanian negotiating team, who has worked so hard in the past months, and to all my colleagues, who have spent numberless hours analysing, consulting, reporting and advising.

Dear friends,

Albania wants to become a part of the EU, to join our community of values. And it is closer to achieving this ambition than ever before. The upcoming stages of the negotiations will put to a hard test the determination of the Albanian institutions to pursue and implement the reforms. There is no time for hesitation. We have seen progress in some areas and in others more efforts and strong political are needed.

The justice reform of 2016 paved the way for Albania to be where it is today, with the ambition to conclude negotiations by 2027. For this to happen, there can be no setbacks in the judicial reform. On the contrary, we need to strengthen further the core principles that guided the reform: an independent and impartial judiciary, free from political interference that is accountable to its citizens and delivers efficiently the justice they legitimately expect.  

I believe everybody here agrees that the target of EU membership that Albania has set itself is the right one. It is an unequivocal investment in the security of the country. Joining the EU is a guarantee that the country has a dignified place on the international stage and that rule of law, democracy and human rights are firmly anchored, and do not depend ongeopolitical winds.

Today we celebrate this journey, we take stock and renew our commitment to achieving this legitimate aspiration of the Albanian people.

For me it has been an immense honour to represent the EU in Albania and I am proud, together with my colleagues, of the progress we have made so far together. Rest assured of our resolve to continue to support you, advise you and, yes, also spur you to continue to make every effort needed, so that we can soon welcome Albania into the European Union.

Thank you