Vlahutin speaks frankly about EU accession negotiations: “It’s not gift, but hard work ahead”

25/04/2018 19:13

The EU Ambassador to Albania, Romana Vlahutin, left diplomacy aside and told Albanian politicians what they should expect if the European Council recommends opening the accession negotiations.

“The work you face with the opening of the accession negotiations should scare you, in some way, because they will be very hard and very invasive. These are called negotiations, but in essence, there is nothing to negotiate. You must take yourself closer to the EU standards not only in legislation but also with behaviours. The negotiations have only deadlines and technicalities, but the essence cannot be negotiated, because this is the EU. Keep this in mind for the future. It doesn’t matter how many chapters you open, but how many you close”, she said.

The EU ambassador was invited to Parliament for a joint meeting of the Integration Commission, while Albanian PM Rama is attending a visit in Berlin to convince Germany vote in favour of Albania’s accession negotiations.

“I don’t believe in lobbying. It is overrated. I believe in concrete results. Albania is not becoming EU member. Opening the negotiations is no gift, but the fruit of a long, hard work. You cannot always like it. It is a surgery process and very invasive, but it is a just process for anyone”, the EU Ambassador said.

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