Improving Serbia-Albania relations is a key to a stable Western Balkans, said the participants of the panel discussion “Future(s) of Security Normalization among Belgrade-Pristina-Tirana” held on Thursday.

Significant progress has been made in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and in the Belgrade-Tirana relations over the past three years, the participants concluded.

Research has shown that citizens in all three societies support the dialogue, said Sonja Stojanovic Gajic, Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.

Senior Researcher of the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies in Pristina Shpend Kursani said that for the citizens of Kosovo, the recognition of independence would be a good way to normalize relations, but added that, in his opinion, a strong, although unrecognized Kosovo is better than a recognized but weak Kosovo.

Arjan Dyrmishi of the Institute for Democracy and Mediation in Tirana said that the relations between Serbs and Albanians are crucial for the relations in the entire region, noting that there is room to improve them.

The conference marked the end of the three-year project “Security Research Forum Belgrade-Pristina-Tirana”, aimed at improving understanding of bilateral and regional relations and security by establishing links between security communities.