TIRANA – President of Albania Ilir Meta received today Director -General for EU Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission Christian Danielsson.
Meta highlighted the significance of meeting the 5 key requirements of the European Commission for opening of EU accession negotiations and voiced his optimism for meeting them on time.
Likewise, he emphasized that the legal expectations of the Albanian citizens and the great European and American investment in the judicial reform should stimulate a quality and rapid progress toward establishment and efficient functioning of the organs that will vet the judges and prosecutors.
Meta also emphasized the significance of the electoral reform beginning on time at the Assembly of Albania so that to treat seriously and in an all-embracing way all the concerns and recommendations raised in the OSCE/ODIHR election report.
Meta and Danielsson exchanged views even on the situation in the region and the recent developments in the European Union.
Danielsson, met earlier this afternoon with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Ditmir Bushati. The meeting allowed for a fruitful and open exchange, on the progress achieved by Albania so far in rule of law matters and broadly on the Five Key Priorities, as well as on a number of challenges ahead.
Bushati shared the strong determination of the government to pursue in the implementation of the reform agenda.
Christian Danielsson reiterated that progress in the implementation of justice reform and achievements specifically related to the vetting progress are of crucial importance to move Albania forward on the EU path.
In this regard, he reassured Bushati that the European Commission, through the lead of the International Monitoring Operation (IMO), will guarantee a thorough external monitoring.
He underlined that beyond the Five Key Priorities framework, it is also important that Albania maintains close cooperation with EU Member States on the issue of the sustained flow of manifestly unfounded asylum applications, while this negative trend persists and continues to require targeted actions.
Last but not least, Director-General Danielsson recalled the importance of good neighbourly relations, with the trust that the government of Albania will maintain a constructive and consistent approach to fostering exchanges and dialogue with all regional partners.