Prime Minister Edi Rama:

Hello everybody!

First of all I would like to publicly welcome Commissioner Hahn, and thank him for his attention and special support, in this joint effort, for it is such, to successfully crown the Justice Reform, and also to push forward the sustainable progress that we have been making so far.

The meeting today of the High-level Dialogue confirmed the bilateral commitment of Albania and of the European commission, for the progress made towards the next stop which is the opening of negotiations.

We highlighted the achievements of the reforms that have a direct impact on the meeting of the 5 priorities in order to open the accession negotiations.

We also confirmed our firm willingness to deepen these reforms, with the conviction that the pain, the sacrifices and the challenges brought by the reforms are not an obligation that we have towards Brussels or the European Union, rather an obligation that we have towards our children for the Albania of the next generation.

We confirmed our commitment towards accomplishing a deep justice reform, as a key step in a process that, of course, in relation to Brussels will not only create the conditions to open negotiations but, even more important, will laid the ground to build a dignified justice system for a country that aspires one day to be a member of the European Union.

We are convinced that the adoption of the justice reform is the right path to the opening of negotiations, because the reform creates the proper ground to start immediately work with the chapters 23 and 24, which coincide with the launching of negotiations.

But, on the other hand, this reform shall also produce a direct impact on the quality of the fight against organized crime and corruption for it to be enhanced, in relation to which fight, the Commission’s report and the Commissioner today have put an emphasis on the significant weakness in the investigation and punishment processes; processes that are directly connected with the justice system, despite the colossal and successful work carried out by the Albanian government through the State Police and other law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime and corruption.

We also confirmed our commitment to a process that is as open and inclusive as possible, and to an ongoing dialogue with the opposition in the reform commission, which cannot be conditioned with aspects of the daily politics, regardless of how legitimate they are for one party or the other.

Both the Albanian government and the European Commission consider the High-level dialogue as an exemplary bridge in a process that not only creates the conditions for us to interact as two parties, but it also creates the conditions for the Albanian party in this interaction to be quite varied but united in the major objective such as the National Agenda for Integration.

Based on the very positive experience of the High-level Dialogue, I think that it is not in vane that I publicly urge today, in front of our joint friend Commissioner Hahn, the Democratic Party, its leadership, to sit together around the table of a high-level political dialogue, just among us, without the precious presence of our friends, and we are ready to carefully and respectfully listen to the Democratic Party, because I think that there is a possibility for us to agree in order to address our disagreements in a civilized way. I also think that there is a possibility for us to separate the agendas of our parties, or the legitimate reforms of a ruling majority, form the national agenda, where fortunately there are no contradictions among the parties, at least there is no serious contradictions, in terms of the common path of the European Integration.

Likewise, I believe that the language of conditions, of threats, of short-term calculations that have transformed the political debate of the day into a battle of televised statements, is the right of each party to have it as a choice, but it does not preclude the possibility for us to confront around the table the claims or arguments, because in the end the countries of the continent where we live, or in the Europe in which we want to be an integrated part, do not differ from how much the parties agree with each other everywhere, but on how much the disagreement among them affects for the better or the worst the quality of the social coexistence.

I thank once again Commissioner Hahn for being here, this time much longer because, in addition to the High-level dialogue, he is going to attend a meeting with the Foreign Affairs ministers of the region in order to take forward an historical process for the region, that is the Berlin Process, and to increase the healthy spirit of cooperation in the region, in terms of which the Commissioner has a long experience due to his activity in the European institutions.