The President of the Republic, Bajram Begaj, raised the concern of cyber attacks in albania at the Regional Summit of Brdo-Brijuni Leaders in Slovenia. In his speech, the Head of State said that this is an opportunity to show that the EU should speed up the integration process. 

"A few weeks ago, and again two days ago, Albania was under severe cyber attacks, carried out by Iranian state-linked actors. The attacks targeted government data, border security systems and disrupted digital government services for some time. 

This was the last blow in a list of reasons why Albania took the extreme action of cutting off diplomatic relations with Iran. Such malicious activity is indisputable and fact-based evidence of 'foul play' by third actors in the region. 

We hope that the EU as a whole has finally realized that time matters, that we must speed up the enlargement process. 

This would be the best response to the continued greed of third actors, to increase their influence and destabilizing presence in the region. 

Despite the apparent reluctance, the EU has the necessary absorptive capacity for the Western Balkans. Of course, there are hurdles to overcome. 

Some depend on us, but to be honest, some even on the EU itself. Some EU member states should be reminded of the importance of security and prosperity in the Western Balkans, not only for our sake, but also for the EU itself. 

I particularly commend the active role played by our host and President Milanovic in raising this vital issue, in Brussels and elsewhere. Thanks to their commitment, the European integration perspective of the region remains in the focus of EU policies. The EU-Western Balkans summit organized by Slovenia last October 2021, here in Brdo, was useful in keeping our region on the EU agenda," Begaj said.