European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday She welcomed the “ambitious” program of Albania, which aims to conclude full membership negotiations within two years. Political parties in the country also called on support for demanding reforms, TASR reports according to AP report.
“Albania has an ambitious program to close negotiations with the EU in the next two years,” She said Kallas at a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Ram. “It is essential to keep the high pace of reforms. And I also understand that reforms are always quite demanding,” noted.
The EU diplomacy chief is currently attending some Western Balkan countries. In the Albanian capital Tirana, she met the leading representatives of the country and assured them about the future of the country in the Euroblock.
Albania applied for EU membership in April 2009, acquired the status of a candidate country in June 2014. In the first half of 2020, Member States agreed to start the accession negotiations and the EU opened the first chapters last October.
Western Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia – They find in various stages of access negotiations on EU membership. For a long time they were frustrated for the slow pace of progress, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 encouraged European leaders to enforce the entry of these countries into the block. The AP recalls that they also include Kosovo, but in this case its independence does not recognize five EU countries, including Slovakia.
“Your decision to fully apply EU sanctions against Russia, along with your political, military and humanitarian support, proves your commitment to our common values,” added Kallas.
Rama announced that it was hoping in the end of the process of negotiations with the EU until 2027 and in the membership of Albania in the block by 2030. “We will not rest until we enter the European Union door and do not sit for the same table as the European Union,” declared.
Albania is part of the mechanism For reforms and growth for the Western Balkans and in the following years, it could receive more than EUR 920 million to promote reforms in the rule of law and fundamental rights, renewable energy, digital economy, human capital or the development of the private sector.
On Tuesday, Albania signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the reconstruction of the railway between the port of Durrës and Rrogozhinë worth EUR 90 million, which will “serve as a critical route (…) between NATO Member States, for military mobility in South -East Europe”. “This is extremely important in the current security environment,” added.
In Albania, on May 11, the parliamentary elections are held and the ruling socialists have set themselves as the main goal of the EU election campaign. Conservative opposition blames them for corruption and inability to lead the country forward. Kallas has already visited Montenegro as part of her business trip and later ends her tour on Tuesday by a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
