TIRANA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Albania marked the 10th anniversary of its joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Friday.

Representatives from 29 NATO member countries gathered to attend the activities organized by the Albanian Defense Ministry.

In his speech as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Albanian President Ilir Meta highlighted the new challenges that the alliance currently faces, guaranteeing that Albania will continue to contribute to all missions.

In his remarks, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the challenges that NATO is facing in the Balkan region today are many, violent extremism being one of them.

Growing nationalism, the crisis of Syrian refugees, the crisis of refugees in the Mediterranean or cyber war, which is becoming a bigger threat by the day, are some of the challenges that need to be jointly addressed, Rama said.

Albania became a full NATO member on April 1, 2009.