TIRANA – The statement of the President of Greece, Pavlopulos, for conditionality of EU accession process with Albania is not aligned with the latest messages and public engagements of Foreign Ministers intended to bring positive energies into the relations between the two countries, tackling impediments of the past in the spirit of self-restraint and constructiveness.
This is what the President of Albania Ilir Meta stated in an interview with “Albanian Daily News” pointing out that the spectrum of cooperation between the two countries is universal and of high importance not only for our countries but for our people as well.
“Naturally, there might be certain issues on which we take different stands but this does not mean to lose calmness in communication with each other and risk the overall and vital cooperation for the two countries and people. The partnership is not a concept and a document, first of all, it is a way of communication-based on mutual respect,” the Head of State said.
Regarding the new enlargement strategy for the Western Balkans published two days ago by the European Commission, Meta said that this strategy and the Sofia summit prove that the region is among the priority and strategic issues on EU agenda either in strategic, political, institutional, economic and civic terms.
The closer this relation becomes, the quicker is the assessment, the more the country progresses. I maintain that this strategy is encouraging and creates a very good balance between identification of risks and the need to intensify relations of EU with 6 regional countries, Meta said.
He added that in his capacity as President of Albania, he would appeal for a careful, attentive and rational reading by all political and institutional actors for prioritizing the actions necessary for opening the EU accession negotiations.
“Likewise, I underscore the importance of preserving the coherence between the engagement statements and action plans to ensure seriousness and credibility of reforms. Credibility is the keyword for new enlargement strategy, a necessary achievement in relation to citizens and our institutional partners,” Meta said.