Statement of Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following their meeting:

Prime Minister Rama:  It was a privilege and an extraordinary pleasure to welcome today, a friend and an ardent supporter of Albania, but also of the entire region, on the path to membership in the European family.

Of course, this visit is another significant milestone, also for our intensified relation with Germany, a friendly country, to which we are grateful, among other things, for the role taken in the opening of the historical Berlin process that has made our region enter a new era.

Of course, the visit of Minister Steinmeier was important also for the moment where we are. A milestone for an historic reform, the judiciary reform that after being successfully adopted in parliament, will open the path of negotiations with the European Union, for which Germany first of all, and the Foreign Minister in person have invested very seriously to give the Albanian people a clear message that the European Union welcomes Albania, expecting of course from Albania to meet one by one all the conditions required to be a member of the European family.

I am glad that today the Minister underlined unequivocally both the importance of this reform and the necessity for the opposition to take its steps to join a draft that has not been produced at the headquarters of the Socialist Party and neither in the house of the government and of our coalition, but is  the product of an intensive cooperation in a model process with the European Union and the United States, where Germany has paid from the beginning a special attention and has followed the process with a particular focus.

Thank you very much, dear Minister! This is another example of the fact that Germany doesn’t give its word very easily, but when it gives its word, it keeps it. You promised you would come to Albania, and today you are here, and it is hard to come to Albania for the first time, but who comes here once, they will always return. You’re welcome to come back whenever you want.

Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier: Many thanks, dear Prime Minister for the reception reserved to me and to the accompanying delegation during this visit. I thank you cordially for our talks in these last hours. Of course, Germany follows with special attention the political developments taking place in Albania.

Albania captured recently the attention of the German public opinion, due also to the goal scored by an Albanian player in the European Football Championship.

Prime Minister Rama: This is the best thing about emigrants.

Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier: It would be a great pleasure to continue talking about sport and the matches of the European Football Championship, but what really made us come here, were of course some things more important than that. It’s no secret if I say that Albania is in a very crucial stage of the process of its accession to the European Union.

I would like to repeat once again, with pleasure, what I said today during a press conference with the Foreign Minister. Germany really has a very great respect in terms of the path that Albania has entered, and for what has been accomplished so far. We follow with great interest the reforms that have been developed especially in the economic sector, which will definitely bring here in Albania even more successful investments of German investors and entrepreneurs.

But of course, it would be of a better interest that Albania follows on its own path to the creation of a state, of a more democratic and a more sustainable system. The key point in this context would be the fight against corruption, coupled with the reform of the justice system. It is not certainly the first time that this topic so important is being discussed, but we are now in a very crucial stage. In autumn of this year, the European Commission will review its expectations toward Albania, whether they have been met or not, and the reform in the justice system plays a decisive role in this regard.

We are now at the stage of an open window of the opportunities provided, and I hope very much that the political forces in the country will be able to find common ground in order to meet the expectations of the European Commission concerning the conclusion of the reform in the justice system. I think we are at a point where Albania has never been before, which means that the country has walked much of its road, and we are before a product that does not come only as an Albanian product, but comes as a product in consultation with the Venice Commission, as well as with prominent international experts.

I hope that the political forces will be able to find the courage to take the right decisions in this regard, and I hope that in terms of the fulfilment of this reform, the concrete support of the opposition will be also required. It is in the interest of every Albanian citizen, in the interest of a more transparent future, that this reform is completed exactly in view of the fight against corruption. Thanks.