Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome our guests and congratulate them on their progress so far and, in particular, on their positive attitude to the European project. We wish them well in that area. There were times in the not-too-distant past when we were very concerned about what was happening in the Balkans. We were glad to see some degree of stabilisation take place initially. Matters have moved on since then and the countries are moving on the right path. I hope that when the witnesses were in the UK, they did not take on board the negativity they have there towards the European Union. People will always look back. That has been part and parcel of history. People tend to look back after a while, in particular if they have reached the far shore and are in comparative safety. They tend then to look back and say it was great in the old days. In some ways, the old days were great, but a lot of things were very negative too. A lot of things happened in the witnesses' region which were very disturbing. We watched on television and saw speeches being made in the European Parliament. I was present when the representatives of some Balkan countries broke down and cried in the European Parliament at the lack of action from the surrounding states. That is why membership of NATO is very important for Albania and Montenegro. I note that they are surrounded by the European Union as it is, with just the sea on the other side, but that is an advantage, of course. However, having learned from the experiences of the past and recognising the need to proceed in a particular direction, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. That applies to both Albania and Montenegro and in fact to the whole region. I referred earlier to the fact that it used to be regarded as the tinderbox of Europe in that things happened there which were minor in nature but which had a major negative impact not only on the immediate region but on the rest of Europe as well.

Employment and economic progress are important. One thing that tends to create problems in a democracy is that, where the freedom exists, the tendency is to protest and to sometimes go further. There is a danger that economic performance is not seen to be as good as it should be. There is a huge difference between Montenegro and Albania in terms of bilateral trade, for example. That is understandable. A small population is one of the factors. In terms of bilateral trade, the figures show Montenegro is vulnerable whereas Albania is a bigger country with a larger population. Those comparisons need to be made in these countries' efforts to achieve what they aspire to, namely, membership of the European Union. I agree with that objective and harbour no negativity towards it. It is a natural progression of the European project in relation to the whole region, including the witnesses' countries.

At a time when one country is leaving the Union, it tends to create questions. People ask whether they should go back to where they were. We should not do that under any circumstance in any part of Europe. There is nothing to be learned from the mistakes of the past except that they were mistakes. The fact is that Albania, Montenegro and ourselves, as Europeans, must remain focused on the positive outcomes which have resulted from membership of the EU for us and, in the not-too-distant future, for them.