"A symbolic support", as experts comment on the Ukraine - Southeast Europe summit in Tirana

International affairs experts affirmed that the Tirana Summit is as important for Ukraine as it is for Albania and the Western Balkans.

This is the reason, they claimed in interviews for the Voice of America, why there was a call to increase cooperation and concrete support from this region for Ukraine, so that it can withstand Russian aggression, avoiding as much as possible the risk of Russian influence in the Western Balkans.

" From the Tirana Summit for Ukraine, it came out again that Russia should be blocked in all possible ways, especially in the economy and information, which aim to cause unrest in the countries of the Western Balkans, as has been observed in recent years", he says for the Voice of America, the head of the European Movement Study Center in Albania, Gladis Gjipali

He emphasized for the Voice of America that the Russian influence in this region has been reflected in the lack of stability as well as in increasing the opportunities to increase unrest in these countries.

"The message of the Summit is that the war is near, the threat is great and we must at any moment be ready to give help, each in our own way, in the service of peace, preparing and contributing to the war that is currently happening" , says Mr. Gjipali.

While the international affairs expert, Ledion Krisafi, at the Institute of International Studies, says for the Voice of America, that President Zelensky basically asked for cooperation on ammunition, to co-produce weapons with Albania, bringing back the idea of ​​reviving the arms industry inherited from the regime communist, already destroyed, but for this to be done it will take many months and maybe a few years, while the possibility that Albania will provide military support is, according to him, very small.

"Russia must not win the war in Ukraine. If this were to happen, we would have a very big problem of Russian influence and problems coming from Russia in the Western Balkans. This was said some time ago by Mr. Zelensky, and Mr. Rama also said it today.

Bosnia may be the first problem center in this sequence; a Russian victory would embolden the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina to secede from it with Russian support. The scenario of Donbas and the scenario of Crimea in the north of Kosovo is very possible. Banjska at the end of last September showed that if the Kosovo police had not been alert and ready to deal with that event, then we could have a Crimean scenario in the north of Kosovo as well" , says Mr. Krisafi.

Albania's commitment to the issue of Ukraine, according to experts, is of particular importance, because it proves that the foreign security policy of the official Tirana is fully compatible with that of the European Union, while it gives a message to other countries in this region, that they should also be equally clear and decidedly pro-Ukraine.

" We are firmly on the path of fully supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the face of aggression, but it is important for other countries in the Western Balkans, such as Serbia and Bosnia, that have not agreed to the sanctions imposed due to ties their economic etc. this is an important message that Tirana is sending to these countries also within the European Union membership process; there cannot be different attitudes, because these cause problems even when they are within the EU itself, and it is one of the conditions for the membership of these countries to have the same policy as that of the EU" , says Mr. Gjipali.

On the other hand, the Krisafi study appreciated the fact that Albania is committed to supporting Ukraine with initiatives in its favor during the two years in the UN Security Council together with the USA and in the future.

"Today's comes in the wake of many summits, after Secretary Blinken's visit to Albania, EU and Western Balkan meetings in Tirana, and these have turned Tirana into a diplomatic center of the region. This is not happening in Belgrade, nor in Skopje, nor in Sarajevo, but it is happening in Tirana and it is not happening by chance. This is above all a confirmation of Tirana's foreign policy. For Ukraine this marks symbolic support, because the region can only provide moral support. The only country that could provide military support is Serbia, but because of its policy, it is more pro-Russian than pro-European,"  says Mr. Krisafi.

Experts believe that Ukraine received symbolic but significant support from the Tirana Summit, that this Summit was an assessment of Albania's foreign policy, while Kiev is aware of the little practical support that the Western Balkans can provide, a support that the resistance of while Ukrainian is waiting for it from the USA and the European Union. VOA