TIRANA, September 7/ATA/ Ambassador of the European Union Delegation in Tirana Luigi Soreca encouraged today the political class to cooperate in support of the Albanians’ aspiration for EU membership.
In an exclusive interview for the “Panorama” newspaper, Soreca said that, “He is looking forward to cooperate with the new teams, both that of Rama government and that of the opposition”.
“The new political season marks the return to Parliamentary life of the opposition and I think this is a good omen for Albanian democracy. The Parliament will consist mainly of two blocs which will have to work together on making key decisions for the country’s future, especially regarding EU integration,” he said.
Soreca said that, “He expects that the new Parliament, as a whole, will continue to push forward implementation of all necessary reforms for Albania’s integration into the EU”.
The ambassador expressed confidence that, “The new teams, the Parliament as a whole and the non-political actors are all ready to move forward, aware that only by doing so can they achieve the national priority of Albania’s EU integration, starting with the first Intergovernmental Conference between the EU and Albania, which will officially mark the opening of accession talks”.
According to him, the Electoral Reform is an important moment of cooperation between the ruling majority and the opposition in implementation of the OSCE-ODIHR recommendations.
Speaking about Justice Reform, Ambassador Soreca said that, “EU investment in the sector speaks louder than words in this regard.”
“50 million Euros have been invested so far and another 9 million Euros are expected to come,” he said.
At the regional level, Soreca said that, “The EU has welcomed the commitment of the Western Balkan leaders to regional co-operation, an essential feature of the EU’s perspective on the Western Balkans and an integral part of the Stabilization and Association Process with the EU”.
“We fully understand the wish of countries to move forward and engage in specific projects, and that would be welcome. At the same time, a comprehensive process, covering the entire Western Balkans region remains key for the EU. In this context, it is important for the region to make progress in establishing a Common Regional Market based on EU rules, a political commitment undertaken by Western Balkan leaders at the Sofia Summit last autumn. The EU, on the other hand, is creating unprecedented investment opportunities of up to 30 billion Euros in the region through its Economic and Investment Plan and it is up to Albania and other countries in the region to make the best use of these opportunities to the advantage of the citizens of the region “, he said./mm/p.s./
