After the meeting of the EU-Albania Association Stabilization Council, European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said that the EU must keep their promise for Albania’s integration into the European bloc.
During his speech at the joint conference with Prime Minister Rama and Josep Borrell, he said that Albania has made progress. Varhelyi said that last year was quite successful for Albania and that the EU expects the country to progress even more during 2023.
“It hasn’t been six months since the Tirana summit, now we are here for the council. It is always worth coming because it is no longer just about Albania, but about the fact that Europe is committed to the Western Balkans to have it as its geopolitical priority.
What we heard from Rama and the delegation is that Europe is the geopolitical priority for Albania and the Balkans is a priority for us.
This means that we want this region to be part of the EU as soon as possible. Returning to Albania, we saw what you have accomplished.
Last year was successful for Albania. We launched the first intergovernmental conference. Reforms move at a pace and the EC is here to ask for more.
Likewise, we agreed that if everything goes well, this year will be even more successful because both sides benefit from the progress that Albania has made. From this progress we get a partner who not only works but also integrates with us in trade, society and economy.
It is not only Albania that must deliver results, we also have obligations.
The EU must be ready to keep its promises since the candidate country has kept them. We are doing this with the economic investment plan. For this, we have an economic investment plan of 30 billion. This is why we must accelerate the implementation of this plan. Last year we saw that the numbers were good, but we want to have more, that’s why we gave 1.8 billion euros in grants for the implementation of 40 main projects in the Balkans, but we need to go beyond, we need commercial, digital and energy connections for the EU.” , he said.
/abcnews.al
