TIRANA, Oct 13 /ATA/ Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, in a media statement on Thursday said that the European Commission’s progress report recognizes the great work that has been done and confirms Albania’s progress.
According to the minister, the report is a working document on the areas where joint commitment with the EU will be made in the coming weeks and months.
“The publication of the European Commission’s Report on Albania has been an important moment for years, not only for the government and the political class, but also for the entire Albanian society. For the government and the political class, of course, this is a moment when we get an objective technical evaluation of the work we have done regarding the EU accession reforms, but also a guide for the work that needs to be done. For Albanian society, as a society that believes in the goal of European integration with an inconceivable unanimity for many other countries, this is a moment to see how much progress the country has made in this modernizing and Europeanizing journey,” she said.
Xhaçka added that “today, after receiving the report, we can all feel glad, because this report, the first after the opening of accession negotiations on July 19, 2022, recognizes the great work that has been done and confirms Albania’s progress.”
More specifically, the report speaks, and I quote, “of a recognition of the sustained commitment, reform achievements and sustainability of Albania to move forward on its path towards the EU. Albania has continued to deliver on all the conditions set out in the March 2020 Council Conclusions for the first Intergovernmental Conference.”
The report assesses that Albania has continued to maintain overall focus on the EU reform agenda, despite the challenge of addressing the economic and social consequences of the triple shock of the 2019 earthquake, the pandemic and of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
What is really positive, according to Xhaçka, “is that the Commission shows a clear expression of the geopolitical and strategic dimension of enlargement, which is undoubtedly in line with Albania’s long-standing position that enlargement policy is the best geo-political instrument of the European Union to make sure its neighborhood is safe and driven and the European security sphere is intact and stable.”
“As emphasized in the 2022 Enlargement Communication, the prospect of the European Union accession is a strong anchor not only for prosperity, but also for peace and security. The Commission pays more attention in the 2022 enlargement package to the geopolitical challenges created by Russian aggression in Ukraine. As the Report also points out, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has resonated strongly throughout the region and has further underlined the importance of harmonizing the common foreign and security policy in the enlargement process,” the minister said.
In this regard, Xhaçka underlined some of the findings of the European Commission’s report on Albania 2022 from the fields of foreign policy, security and defense, which have finally taken on the importance they deserve in the evaluation of candidate countries.
“I also feel really glad about the high evaluation in the report of Albania’s work in the UN Security Council, underlining the commitment to fulfilling our priorities to represent ourselves, our region, our continent and all those who believe in the principles and values of the multilateral international order in the exercise of foreign policy. As a non-permanent member since January 2022, Albania has been actively engaged in the UN Security Council, including as a co-drafter of the resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine” and not only that, the minister continued.
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