TIRANA, June  20 /ATA/ The Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Policy has given the green light to the implementation of the agreement signed between the Albanian and Montenegrin governments for the opening of a new border point Saint Nikolaj-Pulaj. This border point is opened in the framework of the construction of the bridge over Buna, bringing the two countries even closer.

In the Committee for Foreign Policy, Julian Hodaj, Deputy Minister of Interior, underlined that this agreement is part of the series of agreements signed with Montenegro, during the meeting of the two governments in Podgorica on February 27, 2023.

“This agreement was signed at the joint govt. meeting on February 27, 2023 and was proposed by the Montenegrin side. The agreement is complementary as it helps the functionality of the bridge over Buna, and since there will be a bridge connecting the two sides of the border, we also need a border point,” said Hodaj.

“It will work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will help passengers and their vehicles. There will be modeled on the border point of Muriqani, which operates based on the “One Stop Shop” model, i.e. one stop, one control. We have all seen first-hand how time efficient it is,” Hodaj announced.

Deputy Minister of Interior added that, “this agreement has several advantages both in terms of police and economic cooperation. Facilitating the movement of vehicles and citizens at the border crossing, both in registration and control. This will not only facilitate the border crossing of the areas of sub-Shkodra, Lezha, etc., but will also facilitate the border point of Muriqani. About 600,000 Albanian citizens and foreigners pass through Muriqan annually, so about 1.2 million checks are carried out.”

/sm/