Spiropali met Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder and the state’s Minister for European and International Relations, Eric Beißwenger, where the two sides reaffirmed what she described as an “excellent partnership” between Albania and Bavaria.

She said the Bavarian government strongly backs Albania’s EU accession process.

Economic cooperation was also high on the agenda, with discussions focusing on increasing Bavarian investment in Albania.

“We committed to further strengthening our economic ties, also thanks to the presence of the Bavarian trade office in Tirana, with the clear objective of boosting Bavarian investments in our country,” Spiropali wrote on social media.

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In a statement, Spiropali referred to proceedings involving former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, former parliament speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and former lawmaker Rexhep Selimi.

She said the length of their pre-trial detention, now exceeding five years without a final verdict, and the nature of the charges raised serious questions about proportionality, due process standards and respect for fundamental human rights.

Spiropali underlined that the situation risked reinforcing perceptions of one-sided severity in the handling of the case, particularly when compared with the treatment of those responsible for crimes committed by the Serbian security apparatus during the Kosovo conflict.

“Even today, many crimes committed by Serbian forces against Kosovo’s civilian population remain unaddressed and without full criminal accountability,” she said, adding that such imbalance risks creating perceptions of double standards and undermining public trust in international justice.

Spiropali said international justice must be impartial, balanced and based on indisputable evidence, warning that justice perceived as selective could damage public confidence and hinder reconciliation in a region still in need of lasting peace.

She said the KLA has been a liberation movement that enjoyed broad international support in confronting a regime that carried out systematic violence, ethnic cleansing and widely documented crimes against civilians. Any judicial process addressing individuals from that conflict, she said, must clearly distinguish between individual criminal responsibility and the historical character of the war for liberation.

Spiropali said the court bore a particular responsibility to ensure that the proceedings did not unjustly undermine the liberation struggle, Kosovo’s independence history or the dignity of those who fought for freedom.

“Only a fair decision, grounded in evidence and the highest standards of justice, can dispel the heavy shadow cast over the historical memory of a just war,” she said.

Albania, Spiropali added, believes justice should serve truth and reconciliation, not create narratives that rewrite history or relativise internationally recognised responsibility for crimes committed during the Kosovo war.

She called for the proceedings to be concluded within a reasonable timeframe and in full accordance with international fair trial standards, saying Kosovo’s future and regional stability depend on credible justice that strengthens peace rather than perceptions of injustice.

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In a statement, Spiropali said she had followed “all evening” the wave of political speculation surrounding visas to the United States.

She stressed that while Albania is widely respected and active on the international stage, some in Tirana had claimed that the U.S. had frozen or blocked visas for Albanians.

“They even went so far as to suggest that our historic and strategic partners have placed Albania on a blacklist. Unimaginable!” she said, calling the claims “complete political fabrications.”

Spiropali clarified that the U.S. decision did not restrict travel for Albanians, including for tourism, study, business, family visits, or work-related events. “No one is barred from travelling to the United States as a tourist, student, citizen, or official, although U.S. stay regulations will now align with their immigration policy,” she added.

Foreign Minister said the move concerns a review of immigration visa processing for 75 countries, including five in the Western Balkans, and is part of U.S. efforts to curb abuse of its migration system.

“In short, the decision has nothing to do with the outlandish claims of imaginary ‘nongrata’ lists targeting Albania or Albanians,” Spiropali said.

She reaffirmed Albania’s longstanding partnership with the United States.

“Beyond all this smoke, one truth is as clear as daylight: Albania has been and remains a strategic ally and partner of the United States, sharing a long and inseparable path of values and goals,” she said.

Spiropali made the remarks while travelling to Kyiv for an official visit, where she will reaffirm Albania’s support for Ukraine amid ongoing attacks targeting civilian infrastructure in harsh winter conditions.

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Speaking at a year-end reception with journalists, diplomats and senior officials from the foreign ministry, Spiropali said Albania would focus all its energy and capacity on its strategic objective of closing EU accession negotiations by 2027 and joining the bloc within the decade.

“Our European path is driven by a simple idea, which today is our only solution and choice: Albania in Europe,” Spiropali said, adding that EU membership remains a national vocation and a deeply transformative process for the country.

Reviewing the year now ending, Spiropali said 2025 had been an exceptionally strong year for Albania and its diplomacy, citing the opening of 33 negotiating chapters in 13 months.

“No one has moved at this speed before,” she said, adding that in 2026 the government would seek to align the pace of negotiations more closely with the speed of domestic reforms and the closing of chapter clusters.

Spiropali said Albania had also strengthened the role of the country and its citizens in partner countries and globally, highlighting the adoption of a new diaspora law.

“For the first time, we have a clear coordination mechanism, based in Tirana, working as a single body with our diaspora from California to Sydney,” she said, adding that new mechanisms had been created to protect language, identity and cultural heritage.

She said a new law on the foreign service, together with further improvements in pay and the status of diplomats, would better equip Albanian diplomacy to lead what she described as a historic engagement on the path to EU membership.

“In 2026, we must ensure that the building blocks of our European future are no longer just aspirations, but increasingly part of our daily lives and our new normal,” Spiropali said.

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Speaking at a joint press conference with North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister, Timčo Mucunski, Spiropali highlighted the two countries’ shared commitment to deepening cooperation in 2026.

She said the agenda of bilateral cooperation should have no boundaries, encompassing European integration, infrastructure, energy, the economy, security, education, culture, and people-to-people ties – factors that foster good neighborly relations.

“Geography made us neighbors, history taught us to be friends, the economy made us partners, and the times we live in demand that we be allies,” Spiropali said.

She emphasized that European integration remains Albania’s top foreign policy priority and the foremost goal of the Albanian nation.

Spiropali underlined that Albania’s progress in opening 33 negotiation chapters in just over a year reflects significant reform achievements, with the 2025 EU Progress Report praising deep reforms in the rule of law, judicial institutions, anti-corruption measures, and protection of minority rights.

“This report confirms that our path is the right one and that Albania’s European future is inseparable from the trajectory of the Western Balkans,” she said.

Spiropali underlined that the EU enlargement process should be seen not as a race between candidate countries, but as a shared journey toward an inevitable destination and a natural belonging for the region’s peoples.

She reaffirmed Albania’s full support for North Macedonia’s European path.

“A North Macedonia that strengthens standards, functional justice, and robust institutions is an investment in the stability and security of the entire region,” she said.

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Ahead of her engagements with EU representatives, Spiropali met with Albania’s ambassador to Brussels, Ferit Hoxha.

“Albania maintains an accelerated pace of negotiations to further support Albania’s transformation – each day a step closer to Europe,” Spiropali wrote on social media.

During her visit, Foreign Minister Spiropali is scheduled to meet European Commission Vice-President and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, as well as Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos.

Albania has opened 28 chapters in its accession negotiations and aims to open the remaining five by the end of the year. The government’s goal is to start closing chapters in 2026 and complete the process by 2027, with full EU membership targeted by 2030.

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In a televised interview on Monday evening, Spiropali said Albania is making full use of the “window of opportunity” opened by the EU, describing the moment as crucial both for the region and for Europe’s own unity.

“Europe needs the integration of the Western Balkans, and we must not allow this window to close. No country is seizing this moment better than Albania. The Western Balkans are no longer a distant outskirt,” Spiropali said.

“Today, Europe needs to come together, and European integration represents its true unification. Europe has awakened to its potential. Albania is a strategic point that Europe needs. For us, Europe is not only a democratic process but also an old dream and a new opportunity,” she added.

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“The presentation of defense witnesses will help dispel the false stains on the name of the KLA. Justice must finally overcome injustice,” Spiropali said in a public statement.

She warned against “equating guilt with the freedom the KLA brought,” calling such a comparison “shameful.” Spiropali said the defense phase should clear “fantasy stains” on the KLA’s name.

James Rubin, a former U.S. State Department official and spokesperson during the Kosovo war, was the first witness called by the defense of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi. Rubin testified that neither Thaçi nor Jakup Krasniqi had been implicated in any alleged executions or killings, according to investigations he was familiar with.

Former President Ashim Thaçi, Parliament Speaker Jakup Krasniqi, and former top officials Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi are on trial for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1998–1999 conflict. All four have pleaded not guilty.

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