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The Ambassador of the European Union in Tirana, Luigi Soreca in a joint conference with the Prime Minister Edi Rama commented on the EC progress report on Albania. Referring to the main points of this report, Soreca said that Albania has fulfill the conditions set by the European Council and should continue with the holding of the first intergovernmental conference.
However, the ambassador stressed that further fulfillment of all conditions should be continued, underlining its vetting and extension.
Parts from the ambassador’s speech:
After this meeting I will present the main findings of this report to the integration council in the Assembly. I handed it over to Mrs. Nikolla and I will do the same with President Meta.
The Western Balkans is a priority for the EU. And the visit of the EC president she confirmed the determination of the commission with the determination to move forward with the intergovernmental conference.
The report is based on the new methodology and is a fair assessment of the situation in Albania. The merits given to Albania are given and those areas where more attention is required are emphasized. It is generally said that despite the challenges in a pandemic-marked context, Albania has made progress with reforms. Albania has fulfill the conditions set by the council. The first intergovernmental conference should be convened as soon as possible. Postponement or delays will have a negative impact on EU credibility.
In the area of law enforcement, progress has been made on reforms and the fight against corruption and organized crime. This work on reforms must continue and in particular we expect progress.
One issue that has concerns is freedom of speech. The atmosphere of verbal attacks against journalists should not continue in. More needs to be done to have the independence of the media regulator. Self-regulation of online media must be ensured, government and parliament must be engaged.
Another area we will pursue is that of minorities. Laws related to this area need to be adopted. Economic criteria, after the crisis, it is said that quick and appropriate decisions have been made. The EC is of the opinion that the time has come to have an intergovernmental conference.
It is crucial that Albania continues to meet all the conditions. The key area is the vetting process and its extension. European integration is yielding results day by day. We are confident that all actors are ready to do further work.
/abcnews.al
