EU accession negotiations, Varhelyi: France and Netherlands will change their stance

16/01/2020 16:47

The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, declared in a joint press release with Prime Minister Edi Rama that the negotiations between Albania and the EU will open before the Zagreb summit.

The new methodology of the negotiations is being discussed with skeptical countries as well, such as the Netherlands and France.

The European official is certain that these countries will change their stance by then.

“We keep considering Albania ready for opening the EU accession negotiations. The Commission will be working in three directions.

“The first one will be discussed this month, and it will be about the negotiation methodology.

“The second direction is that we will work hard to make this happen before the Zagreb summit.

“The third one is the Zagreb Summit itself, in which we hope to speak about the economic development of the Western Balkans.

I visited France and the Netherlands and we discussed their concerns. I have received positive signals”, Varhelyi said.

His recommendation to the government is to keep up with the reforms.

The Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, praised the judiciary reform and the fight against corrupted judges and prosecutors.

The European Commissioner welcomed the new agreement with the opposition outside the Parliament, considering it an important milestone for the accession process.

“All political parties in Albania should help to turn this into reality.

“I will also speak with the opposition so that they can help turn this into a success story. I welcome the electoral reform agreement”, Varhelyi declared.

The government will receive 28 million EUR for the good work done with the negotiations, while more funds are expected to derive from the fundraising conference for the earthquake victims, who were also visited by the Commissioner.

 

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