The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Olta Xhaçka, participated in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), in the format of Ministers of Foreign Affairs taking place in Riga, Latvia. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg were also part of the Ministerial.

In her intervention, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Olta Xhaçka underlined the special importance of full Euro-Atlantic integration.

She also called for the Western Balkans to be the focus of NATO’s Strategic Concept.

“The region owes a lot to NATO intervention. Today it is time to go one step further by including the Western Balkans in the 2022 Strategic Concept, while sending a strong signal against all those powers that are trying to sabotage Euro-Atlantic integration by inciting divisions and instability through hybrid tactics. “, said among others Minister Olta Xhaçka.

The Foreign Ministers of the allied countries addressed issues of importance to Euro-Atlantic security by making an assessment of the security environment, including the situation on the borders of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus. Allied ministers also addressed Russian military reinforcements in and around Ukraine.

Minister Xhaçka’s visit to Latvia follows the Sixth Forum of the Mediterranean Union held in Barcelona earlier this week.

This afternoon, the Albanian chief diplomat will travel to Sweden, where the 28th Ministerial of the OSCE Council will be held.