TIRANA, March 16 /ATA/ The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, on Thursday described the holding in Tirana of the 12th meeting of the Stabilization-Association Council between the European Union and Albania as a unique opportunity.
“It is my third visit to Albania as High Representative of the European Union, but today is a unique opportunity because it is for the first time in history of relations between Albania and the European Union, that we held the Stabilisation and Association Council in Tirana. Normally, these important annual meetings take place in Brussels or in Luxembourg. But today, we are here, in Tirana, to show to the Albanian people that the European Union is coming closer to you. With this, we are sending, we want to send a clear and strong political signal of the commitment of the European Union to Albania’s path to be a member of the European Union,” Borrell told the joint press conference alongside Prime Minister Edi Rama and the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, in the framework of twelfth meeting between the EU and Albania for the Stabilization-Association Council.
“With this kind of meetings, we take stock of the progress in preparations for the membership, we review what has been done, we discuss where more efforts are needed and what is the work ahead. And the main message from this Council meeting is our unequivocal commitment to the European Union integration of Albania. We see and welcome Albania’s clear strategic direction towards the European Union. We are working together on Albania’s integration on all strands – from accession negotiations to concrete initiatives such as your participation in our [EU] Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions or [in] the European Diplomatic Academy, which I launched last year,” he said
“I want to recognise and clearly say that this country has demonstrated a strong commitment to necessary reforms and achieved important milestones, in particular in the area of justice. Albania has implemented a comprehensive justice reform, which has been advancing steadily. And this is a clear opportunity now to move forward: Albanian institutions should speed up reforms, building on the massive support of the Albanian people for the European Union integration.”
“We had the opportunity to welcome the announcement of the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, that the golden passport scheme will not be pursued. “
“This meeting takes place in a very challenging and new geostrategic reality caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. But at the same time, it – this event – made the European Union more united and brought the European Union and Western Balkans closer together.”
This is a critical moment of truth. In this critical moment of truth, Albania has showed a true European spirit. Not only in solidarity with Ukraine, but also by acting fully in line with our European Union’s foreign policy.
And you continue [your] 100% alignment with foreign policy decisions of the European Union, including the response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Albania has also used its position in United Nations Security Council to take a clear stance in defence of the international rules-based order and of the United Nations Charter.
This clearly has illustrated and underlined the quality of Albania as a reliable security partner.
At the same time, it makes Albania a target of hostile actions from abroad. And that is why, we are committed to continue supporting Albania in this regard. We are working on a number of actions to help boost Albania’s resilience – against hybrid threats, in the area of cyber security, information manipulation and protection of critical infrastructures.
We have already taken quick action and responded fast after the massive cyber-attack last summer. We have included all Western Balkans countries in our policies on mitigating the negative impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Yes, because this war has been sending shockwaves around the world, affecting many countries around the world, and in particular the Western Balkan countries. For that we have to mobilise urgent support.
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