Honourable Minister of Defence,
Dear Mr. Ramadani ,
Dear members of the Euro- Atlantic alliance,
Dear Mr Mucunski and other representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for the invitation to participate in this event, organized by the Euro-Atlantic Council on the occasion of the day of NATO. Today marks 65 years since the founding of the Alliance and it is an occasion to once again celebrate its exclusive and timeless significance not only for its member states, partners, and supporters, but for all the people, states, and communities that understand and believe in its global role of guarantor of stability and peace today and in the future.

Many things have been said about NATO, including now by the speakers before me. Many things here in this country are written and published every day, to support or criticize, to defend, or to oppose NATO. You, as active members of the Euro-Atlantic Council (EAC) know this better than me because you and the citizens of the country are extremely actively committed to the goal of as soon as possible accession to the Alliance.

The recent visit of the Prime Minister to the NATO Headquarters in Brussels was yet another confirmation of the intention and commitment of the country to continue to work towards full membership as the most important strategic objective. It was a clear sign that there are no other alternatives to the membership in the most powerful modern collective security system.
In this sense, I will only repeat what we all know about NATO and more precisely about what the organization offers to its members:
NATO is a political-military Alliance for collective security that solves the most common problems of collective security by ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of its member states.

NATO is not just an Alliance of states with a shared value system based on consensus decision making. NATO is an Alliance of fully independent states that exist and make decisions as such rather than under conditions of limited sovereignty.

With the additional foreign policy guarantees for all its member states, NATO creates economic opportunities for increasing the standard of living of citizens, because with good policies it makes possible attraction of substantial new investments.

Once the goal of NATO membership is achieved it immediately allows for setting new goals because the membership itself reveals new opportunities and becomes a vehicle for their realization.

What NATO cannot provide?
NATO does not and cannot provide ready-made solutions or solutions that replace the national ones! It does not replace national responsibility for the rule of law, for the supremacy of law. It does not protect the country from terrorists and smugglers. NATO does not justify eventual misrule and does make strong the national institutions.

Membership in NATO itself does not modernize the armed forces and does not resolve possible conflicts between the political and the military leadership in the MO. These are all national decisions and national efforts! Advice, support, assistance - Yes! But decisions on behalf of the national leaders - No! And here I want to once again welcome the approval by the Government of the new Long-term ARM Modernization Plan 2014-2023. I am strongly convinced that on its basis now a mid-term 4 year investment plan will be developed, the implementation of which will provide the needed ARM capabilities. If this does not happen not only the provision of the required military capabilities may be questioned, but also the existence of certain structures of the central administration i.e. of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff and of some parts of the organizational, and, hence, functional structure of the ARM.

Dear friends,
Here, in this room, there are many young people, with many of whom we have known each other from before. I see your enthusiasm and dedication to the idea of NATO. I believe, actually I know, that many of you in the future will be in national and international positions in NATO, at its Headquarters, commands, and committees throughout its civilian and military structure.
You will be witnesses of and participants in a new stage in the development of the Alliance and will be working for NATO for the purpose of continuously modernizing the collective security system for which, as I said at the beginning, there is no alternative. This will probably develop far greater capabilities.

The potential of the member states of NATO as an Alliance is huge! It is huge in terms of military capabilities, in terms of economic capacity, and in terms of participation in political decision-making. NATO’s ability to develop itself under the conditions of today lies in the principles of its creation!

Thank you for the invitation and wish you all success!