Western Balkans Prime Ministers meeting with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, the country holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU. Prime Minister Edi Rama said that there is a broad understanding on the important steps ahead Albania has made, following this meeting, which also closed the tour of President Juncker in the region.
“This was a closing meeting of the Commission President visit, the Enlargement Commissioner, and the Head of European Diplomacy here in Sofia, after a trip through each country in the Balkans. In a way, this was a summary which I consider to be very positive, also presented by President Juncker, as well as a discussion on the progress of the Berlin Process in terms of expected funding where the Blue Corridor or the Adriatic-Ionian Highway is of major priority. What is worth mentioning to our public is the very positive view of this trio, which is actually the reference triangle of member countries, regarding the progress and readiness of Albania at this crucial moment, where we expect a positive recommendation from the European Commission and then, of course, a positive response from member states. It is clear that we should work intensively in this period with regard to member countries, as this process is due, but it is also clear that there is a broad understanding on the important steps forward Albania has made,” said Prime Minister Rama following the meeting.
While praising Albanian State Police and law enforcing structures latest operation in the Port of Durres, Prime Minister Rama said that top readiness of our force was witnessed towards a tough fight against organized crime and any kind of trafficking.
“It is probably worth underlining that our law enforcement agencies operation like Customs Investigation and State Police, with General Prosecutors support had a vast positive echo and was praised with maximum positivity, considering the shipment seized constitutes not only the largest ever seized by us but also a quantity which before passing through Albania has crossed European Union ports and has actually escaped controls. Just like the awareness and highlighting this awareness was of great importance to show that this was a genuine operation of our law enforcement agencies, thus, in such a case, a signaling by partners. It is absolutely common for us to work alongside our partners. It is natural for operations to be a result of cooperation between partners but in this occasion maximum readiness and high integrity has been displayed by our own force, committed in the fight against trafficking. What is of great importance to stress out is the high maximum readiness of our in the field forces to this tough fight against organized crime and any kind of trafficking. It is obvious that the first successfully-concluded phase to uproot cannabis is now succeeded by the second phase, where our fight escalates, our readiness increases and definitely our law enforcement agencies’ capacity grows by being tested in the field and achieving concrete outcomes,” the Premier said.
