President Meta, Prime Minister Rama, Ministers and Generals, Mr. Basha, men and women in uniform, dear friends,
What a beautiful day to showcase our militaries and Exercise Defender Europe 2021, which is the largest U.S.-led military exercise ever seen in the Western Balkans!
This is landmark moment for U.S.-Albanian cooperation in defense. It is also a landmark moment for the NATO Alliance. The Exercise is well underway now, and it is shaping up to be a huge success. Defender 21 has been a military success.
In the past weeks, soldiers from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Romania, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States have been training together to strengthen our readiness, capabilities, and interoperability so that NATO Allies and Partners can accomplish any mission on land, across the sea, and in the air.