Members of Parliament, senior government officials, local authorities, and civil society experts from Albania and North Macedonia gathered today in Struga for a first-of-its-kind multi-stakeholder exchange. Supported by the OSCE Presence in Albania, the OSCE Mission to Skopje, and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), the dialogue focused on mitigating shared environmental risks and climate-related security challenges.

The high-level meeting convened chairs and members of parliamentary committees overseeing environment, natural resources, and sustainable development, infrastructure, culture, tourism and diaspora. They were joined by representatives from protected area authorities and environmental CSOs from both countries to address the intersection of climate change, environmental degradation, and regional security.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Michel Tarran, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, emphasized that parliamentary diplomacy is a cornerstone of environmental security. “Effective responses to climate-related risks begin with robust domestic governance and are amplified through proactive transboundary co-operation,” Ambassador Tarran stated. He noted that as environmental pressures increasingly converge with governance and security issues, there is an urgent need for enhanced institutional co-ordination, rigorous parliamentary oversight, and localized implementation strategies.

The working sessions focused on critical regional stressors, including forest degradation, illegal logging, and the preservation of biodiversity. Participants analyzed land-use pressures and the sustainable management of transboundary natural resources, highlighting the specific role of parliaments in promoting institutional accountability and strengthening legal frameworks between neighbouring jurisdictions.

Drawing on best practices, the OSCE Presence in Albania shared insights from its ongoing initiatives in the Shkodra region from the past. This included success stories in facilitating field-based exchanges and inter-institutional dialogue between Albania and Montenegro, illustrating how local governance can effectively address cross-border environmental security risks.

The dialogue concluded with a roadmap for future engagement, including specialized thematic exchanges, peer-to-peer learning modules, and sustained inter-parliamentary cooperation on climate resilience.

This initiative underscores the OSCE’s enduring commitment to fostering regional stability in South-Eastern Europe by improving cooperation among stakeholders on environmental governance and building collective resilience against the evolving security implications of climate change.