SPEECH BY H.E. PROF. GUIDO DE MARCO PRESIDENT OF MALTA ON THE OCCASION OF THE STATE DINNER HELD IN HIS HONOUR BY H.E. PROF. REXHEP MEIDANI PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA, PALACE OF BRIGADES, TIRANA

I am glad to be back in Albania.

My visit here today underscores the bond of sincere friendship between our two countries.

You live in a country which has a unique beauty of landscape, a land on which evolved the events in history of the Illyrians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Ottomans. Since antiquity, foreign powers recognized the importance of this land which, when not a bridge, was a bridgehead to the heart of Asia Minor, to the heart of Europe, to the heart of the Mediterranean. Because of your particular history, you embody an amalgamation of cultures that left their mark on the whole of our region.

I first visited your country in 1991 as President of the United Nations General Assembly. They were difficult but exciting times because they were the fruit of a process of change which overcame all of Eastern Europe following the tearing down of the Iron Curtain. Since then, we have not witnessed the end of history as was prematurely predicted in some academic and political quarters. However, it was certainly the beginning of a necessary process of change to meet the challenges of a globalising world.

Change always brings with it uncertainties. Change often requires threading unknown ground. Leaders of Albania have taken the responsibility of leading this nation along these paths of renovation and reform which often demand courageous and complex choices.

As I had occasion to say earlier today in addressing the People's Assembly, democracy is a delicate plant that needs constant nurturing and attention. Democracy, true multi-party democracy, is a process of continuous learning built on the art of compromise and consensus. We all recognize how difficult this process can be. But a strong and functioning democracy coupled with the respect for the rule of law are necessary requisites, pre-requisites, for peace and stability – peace and stability which are the benefits that can be reaped in the harvest of reconciliation and justice.

The recent tragic events in Kosovo have highlighted, once again, the importance of this region for the general stability in the whole of the European continent.

Building trust and stability necessitates the establishment of international frameworks which act as guarantees against the renewal of hostilities. This is reflected in the work of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in the efforts surrounding the Stability Pact for South East Europe. It is in everybody's interest that the Balkans achieve a high degree of political and economic stability, because instability here threatens dangerous overspills beyond borders. In this sense, it is a Europeanisation of the Balkans that we auspicate as opposed to an unfortunate reverse.

Malta and Albania also share interests and concerns as regards the Mediterranean. As Mediterranean countries, we would like to see that the whole of the Euro-Mediterranean region enjoy the benefits of peace. Albania, thanks to its diverse and checkered history, can have a unique say in bridging the divide of understanding between opposing shores of this inland sea.

The Albanian people value the strength of family ties and the central role of the family as the nucleus of society. A society necessitates such foundations of concrete values. Your nation possesses this potential. We are certain that the universal values which have made of Europe the success it is today, the universal values that make this Euro-Mediterranean region so rich in substance, are also the values which you share and on which you will continue building a society based on tolerance and understanding.

As President of Malta, I encourage the endeavours of all those who are active in the field of solidarity with the people of Albania. Many Maltese have given a tangible expression to this through initiatives aimed at alleviating the pressures of coping with difficult circumstances, with change. In their work lies the most vivid expression of the friendship between our two nations.

My presence today extends Malta's hand of friendship to Albania, an Albania that has an important role to play in the family of European nations, Albania as an essential component for the stability in the whole of the Mediterranean region.

It is in this context that I ask you to raise your glass and drink to the health and happiness of President Meidani and Mrs Meidani, and to an ever closer relationship between our two countries.