Prime Minister Edi Rama is confident that Albania will fully deserve the opening of accession negotiations.
PM Edi Rama at a media briefing after the meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Police, also Vice President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, and the PMs of the Western Balkan countries said: Either at the one-on-one meetings or at the working dinner of PMs, the institutions of Brussels have asserted their strong will to push ahead with this process, based on what has been achieved, by Albania in the given case.”
Asked whether he believes that next year Albania will first receive the recommendation of the Commission and launch the accession negotiations, Rama said: It is not me who should have that belief, because it has to be the belief of all member countries and the European Council alike.
PM also spoke about the election of temporary Prosecutor General, saying: It was pretty clear that parliament’s decision has reinforced the confidence that justice reform will be heading in the right direction and there is an unshakeable will to carry this reform forward. Of course, the topic of inter-action and regional cooperation has been the highlight of our talks.
Asked whether the situation in Albania has been at issue amid the protest of opposition in parliament, when justice reform and its enforcement are the pre-requisite for the progress down the path to EU, Rama said: When I speak in foreign language, it is Albania that I am referring to, not the parties. Even today I have spoken about Albania, although I tried to skip that difficult point arisen from conduct of opposition but did not blame the opposition, instead I focused on Albania, Albanians, because negotiations do not start for one party, they start for Albania and all Albanians without distinction.