The second day of Tirana Connectivity Forum 2020 kicked off with a Keynote Speech from Ambassador Luigi Soreca, Head of European Delegation to Albania.
During his intervention, Ambassador Soreca announced the EU support social for inclusion in Albania with a record 70 million euros. He stressed that this programme will strengthen social care services, the provision of inclusive education and employment opportunities.
“The programme will also introduce a new employment scheme for young people, expand coverage of welfare-to-work programmes and target families most affected by the crisis, for instance through targeted cash assistance. This programme is the first in the Balkans”, Soreca said.
Ambassador Soreca assessed that in these difficult times, the EU and its Member States have kept their commitment to support the Western Balkans, while concluding that the EU needs to be much better at communicating EU investments and much bolder in explaining the Connectivity agenda.
*The Keynote Speech of Ambassador Luigi Soreca at Tirana Connectivity Forum 2020, can now be reviewed at here.
This year, TCF saw the participation of high-level politicians such as Mr. Peter Beyer, Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation of the Federal Government in German Bundestag.
During his intervention, Mr. Beyer discussed about the contribution of German Presidency in the Enlargement dynamics and the need for reforms in SEE6 in view of Enlargement. He emphasized that the German government supports any assistance that leads to the rapprochement of the countries of the Western Balkans and the implementation of specific projects and concluded that the EU have an honest and strong commitment for the Western Balkans region.
Mr. Beyer also commented on the latest involvement of the United States in the Connectivity projects in the Western Balkans, where he emphasized that the EU welcomes the increased engagement of the USA in the region lately, but that the EU must be a partner in that cooperation.
*The intervention of Mr. Petr Beyer is available on our YouTube channel.
We were honored to have outstanding personalities addressing the forum this year, such as President Romano Prodi who will talked about the cooperation between Italy and Albania, as well as EU and Western Balkans connectivity and also the role of China in SEE6. President Prodi assessed that trade relations between Italy and Albania are good, but they need to be even better.
“We need immediately a meeting in Rome and one in Tirana amongst two Prime Ministers”, Prodi said adding that he looks forward to Italy and Albania to be in the same political community.
According to Prodi, all Western Balkan states must be a part of the European Union, and that is something they must do as soon as possible. He stressed that he believes that the situation in Albania is much better than before and that the current reforms show that Albania is going in the right direction.
*The Talk with President Romano Prodi can be accessed here.
The 6th edition of Tirana Connectivity Forum was concluded with the talk on “Which development model for SEE6 after the pandemic?” with Branko Milanović, Presidential Professor at the Graduate Center.
Professor Milanović explained that it is somewhat hypocritical of the EU to criticize Chinese investments where they themselves are not investing.
“I do not think we should distinguish between foreign investments from one country or another. I am very much in favor of Chinese investments, because they attract Europe’s attention for political reasons. Therefore, Europe feels the need of matching these investments. This is a chance for the Balkans to become better integrated and have better connectivity with the rest of the world,” said Branko Milanović, during Tirana Connectivity Forum 2020.
Asked whether it is realistic to expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will thoroughly change the way in which we produce, trade and communicate with each other or the pandemic is just a bump that we have experienced at the moment, Milanović said that he is not really convinced that it will change things dramatically.
“It will make people realize that global value chains are vulnerable. However, the technology that we have now and the integration of the world cannot be undone”, Milanović underlined.
*The talk with Professor Milanović is now available on our YouTube channel and can be reviewed here.
