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Edi, Mr Prime Minister, first of all, it has been really a pleasure
for me to welcome you and all the delegation here in Brussels for what I
found an excellent meeting we had today. It was not coming as a
surprise, because we worked so much and so well together in these last
months in particular. It was very important to have this common exercise
of assessing where we are today.
First of all, we have commonly underlined that we both remain
committed to Albania's EU integration process. On the European Union's
side, this is a commitment that also translates into the determination
to accompany and support this process and it is very clear to us, the
European Union, that Albania remains firmly committed to its EU reforms
agenda.
We have welcomed and commended the adoption last July of the
constitutional amendments on the justice reform. One of the most
important, if not the most important reform, carried out in the
enlargement countries. This reform is a milestone on Albania’s EU path. I
had the chance of saying at your Parliament a few months ago and
obviously for me those words stay in my memory and also in the practice
of our daily work.
We are convinced that this reform will be transformative for other
areas too. It will contribute to creating a more predictable and
transparent environment for business and investors. In this way, it will
help us increase our economic relations that are already very intense,
very good but, we believe, have still a potential that can be exploited.
It is for this reason that for the European Union it is so important
that this priority, these reforms, started and also why we see that
these reforms enjoy high level of popular support in the country. I
believe Albanians see very well that it is in their interest and the
interest of the country to move forward.
We believe that political parties have now the responsibility to
ensure a swift implementation of the justice reform they, themselves,
adopted by unanimity in Parliament, by approving now the relevant
implementing legislations and by launching the procedures for the
vetting process. And we are willing and ready to support Albania in the
implementation phase.
Today, we also had the opportunity to discuss important steps forward
on others issues, in particular other issues related to rule of law,
starting from the fight against organised crime and corruption. And all
these positive developments that we recognised, welcomed and commended
will be reflected in the work ahead of us in the coming months, in
particular in view of the upcoming progress report - not only these
positive developments that have already taken place, but also the
determination we have seen today to continue on the implementation of
them.
Let me also say, two last points that are equally important for us.
First of all that Albania is continuing to play a very important,
constructive, regional role, promoting cooperation in the Western
Balkans. This is something we appreciate a lot and that we encourage a
lot and we discussed also the regional situation. I commended the full
alignment of Albania on all foreign and security policy issues which is
something that all EU Member States appreciate enormously.
We have good outcomes on our talks on the EU integration process, we
have also good work that is ongoing on the foreign policy files, on the
regional files. This is why I started by saying that today we had a
really excellent meeting and Edi, and all your delegation, I would like
to thank you very much for that.
Link to the video:
http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I125800
Q & A
Q. On the mood in the Council regarding the recommendation to start the negotiations.
A. Well, I will not, for sure, prejudge discussions
and decisions the Council will have to enter after a recommendation.
There is a sequence here that we have to respect, not only for
institutional duties but also for political wisdom, but I would say two
things. One, the Council already last year stated and I think you have,
or you will have in a moment, our joint press release that reflects this
clearly, the Council already underlined that judicial reforms remain
key to further forward movements on Albania's EU accession process. This
was the statement of the Council last year, so it is clear that as we
share the fact that it was a key element, a milestone on the EU
accession process of the country and that we welcomed and commended the
fact that the process started during the summer with an impressive vote
in Parliament, with an impressive vote on constitutional reform, this is
quite clearly an indication of the political direction we are
recognising. I cannot prejudge decisions of the Council, but I see that
we defined as key the judicial reform and the judicial reform has
started in an impressive way during the summer with an impressive
political courage and determination if I can say so.
And this is the second thing I would say: I was addressing the
Albanian Parliament in spring in a time when the issue was, let say, the
object of a rather tense dispute exactly because not only was this a
priority for the Union, but as we said, this was clearly a priority for
the Albanian people and I think that all parties, all institutions in
Albania showed at the end of the day the wisdom and the determination
and the political courage to engage in a difficulty process with a
unanimous vote. This is why I referred, a few minutes ago, to the
responsibility that these same parties and these same institutions now
have to fulfil the expectations that they have created with their people
on the fact that the reforms will be implemented. If we will see the
same level of determination and courage and coherence, consistency, I
think we will continue on the extremely positive path that we have
experienced in these last months. I have said clear words on the way
ahead while I was addressing the Parliament; those words stay in my
head, in my mind and also in my political work in the months ahead.
Q. On the level of corruption and organised crime in Albania.
A. On organised crime, corruption, including the
issue of drugs, obviously this is an issue that Albania has to tackle –
it is not only Albania that has this issue to tackle and resolve. But
what I see is a strong determination to do it, to tackle this and the
work, as Prime Minister mentioned, is ongoing, so for sure it is an
important issue, and for sure it is an important issue that we put in
our common work, in our common efforts to improve the situation and this
is extremely relevant, not only, and I would even say, not so much, for
the EU accession process but mainly for Albania and the Albanian
citizens who, as I mentioned, I think, have all the rights to live in a
country that is free of this kind of experiences that have been very
relevant in the past and we see the trends moving in the right
direction.
Q. On why should Albania enter the EU.
A. I would say three things: security, for sure,
also because it is Europe, it is all countries bordering with European
Union's countries, it is inside the Union and outside the Union. So,
security-wise, we need the stabilisation, the peace and reconciliation
process to get rooted into the European Union's framework. Seen from the
EU's interest, strategic interest, the security. Second, we share the
same geography as we have seen extremely well last year during the
refugees crisis. Sharing the same geography we also need to share some
policies in order to manage what happens in the region, the geographical
region we share. Third, but not less important for the European
citizens, economy. The trade, investment links we have with the region,
all of the Western Balkan countries, Albania in particular, is extremely
important and the potential is still huge to be used to its full. So it
will be, reciprocally, as we say, mutually beneficial, in all these
three sectors, for sure, seen from the European citizens' interest
perspective.
Link to the video:
http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I125803
