According to the Media and Information Agency (MIA), EUR 46.2 million of the total amount will be transferred directly to Albania’s state budget, while the remainder will finance infrastructure projects through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).

The funding is intended to support Albania’s continued alignment with European Union standards and recognizes progress in implementing key reforms required for EU accession.

The package will focus on strategic sectors such as sustainable transport, clean energy, digital development, and human capital improvement, with the goal of accelerating Albania’s economic convergence with the EU.

“This marks another step in Albania’s path toward EU membership,” the government said, highlighting the role of EU financial support in fostering economic growth and regional integration.

The Commission has also approved similar funding packages for Montenegro and North Macedonia, reaffirming the EU’s commitment to the Western Balkans and their integration into the European Union.

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Speaking about the new growth plan for the Western Balkans, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of this initiative not only for the states of the region but also for the stability, peace and prosperity of the region as a whole.

Rama emphasized that the leaders of the Balkans should meet on a regular basis at the political level.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the technical coordination is very crucial and the integration ministers of the 6 countries should get a clear message from the leaders that they should forget about their history.

“You need to be color blind when it comes to history. You must forget what color is the flag of our countries. The most important flag should be the EU flag. They need to sit down and technically thrash out the details to make this happen. But the ministers should forget about the history, the colors and bear in mind that we have only one color, the color of the EU flag, if we want to achieve this and we don’t want to lose this opportunity,” said Rama.

The Prime Minister recalled that the EU will hold elections and at the moment it is not in a favorable position.

“And if it’s not well understood, when they’re in good shape, we’re in bad shape, and when we’re in good shape, they’re in bad shape. It has never happened that these things are together. I hope that everything will go well and we will continue working with the new Commission and Council,” Rama added.
The Prime Minister expressed his confidence that “there is room for improvement and that we should be more ambitious and ask for more along the way, meanwhile we need to do our utmost now.”
“As far as Albania is concerned, we are happy that we are not so patriotic and so connected to history in this meeting. We are ready to work with everyone and help everyone. We need to put pressure on everyone to get this job done, because if we get it done, it will be a great thing for our people, for our states, for all of us. We are good at ‘fights’, but we don’t want to be remembered for this, but for what we have delivered specifically for our businessmen and citizens, and all this will create space for conversation among us,” Rama said.
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