EU Integration unites majority and opposition

Ditmir Bushati, Foreign Minister: “Albania is on the right path as regards reform, and also for the creation of a more constructive policy in Parliament. I am happy that today, the Albanian Delegation, the Minister of Integration, Klajda Gjoshaj, the chairwoman of the European Integration Commission, Majlinda Bregu, were on the same page for issues related to the major national interest of Albania, sa as for the need of having a more intensified European integration process.”

The EU Council notes that despite the closer stances, the political dialogue between the Albanian majority and opposition is essential for the stability of the reforms that are related to the European Integration.

The final joint declaration underlines the importance of the local elections, which, according to the EU, offer more opportunities for Albania to show determination for the implementation of the December agreement, which treats the issue of public administration members with criminal records.

Edgars Rinkevics, Foreign Minister of Latvia, EU Presidency: Politicians use sometimes a very strong rhetoric. Maybe they should soften their declarations a bit more, in order to continue with this generally inclusive process. I can confirm that the local elections are also monitored by the EU, the European Commission, and they will play an important role for the final evaluation process.

TCH: (To the Commissioner) The Commission will publish the enlargement package after five months. Since there will be summer holidays after these local elections, what do you expect from Albania more concretely? Are there chances for a positive recommendation this Autumn? (To the Presidency) What is the mood of the member countries regarding Albania? Will this positive recommendation be accepted at the Commission within this year?

Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighboring and Enlargement Negotiations:
This is related to quality, not speed. I have understood that Albania is trying to harmonize speed with quality. I do not want to make any prediction, but I am very positive for the moment that Albania can prove solid and stable track records in the reforms with the five key priorities. We will start with a preliminary evaluation by early autumn, when we will see our conclusions on the progress report.

Edgars Rinkevics, Foreign Minister of Latvia, EU Presidency: As you have mentioned, we have five months until then and I believe that Albania can do more to implement the reforms. We are talking about the local elections and the implementation of reforms in some important areas, as decided by the EU Council last December. If we see real progress, which is confirmed by the Commission, then the Council will stand to the decision taken on December 2014. For this we need progress in the key areas, such as the rule of law, the economic reforms and so on. I would not judge right now the mood for next December, but I want to underline that a lot depends on your country. We were impressed today by the reform process realized so far and the intervention of thec hairwoman of the European Integration National Commission, which underlined some issues for which there is still work to be done. Let us use the time with wisdom and productivity. Let’s give the Commission a chance to evaluate, and the Council will decide on the progress achieved by Albania, and on the evaluation of the Commission that we expect in October.

Top Channel