Intergovernmental Conference, Rama- Raouna- Kos at press conference: Albania, unconditional love for the EU
A delegation led by Prime Minister Edi Rama participated today in Brussels in the Albania-EU Intergovernmental Conference. The delegation included Chief Negotiator Majlinda Dhuka, Foreign Minister Ferit Hoxha, Interior Minister Besfort Lamallari and Justice Minister Toni Gogu. “It is a very, very important moment in our journey towards membership and it is a moment for which we have been working very hard for a long time. And it is a moment where half of the work, if I may say so, of the open chapters will be closed and the other half of the closure will be opened,” said Rama. Asked what he thinks about the lack of veto on some issues by member states, Rama said that he supports it, but it is related to the political union and full membership.
"I have actually mentioned them, I have been a champion of different approaches in the past because I have learned that the capacity to continue the enlargement, as has happened before, is not there, in the important capitals and it is very clear on the other hand that if it is done properly it is the right thing to do. So I support it, but it needs to be discussed, it needs to be conceived properly because it is not about an easy membership. It is about firstly a real political union and secondly a journey to full membership with full rights along with the necessary reforms of the European Union", said the Prime Minister.
Afterwards, he said that as one of the most pro-European countries, Albania is ready to move forward.
"Listen, Albania is a country that has always been 100% in line with EU foreign policy, so we have not felt any pleasure in imagining having a veto, being the most pro-European Union and pro-Atlantic country in Europe, and when I say the most pro-EU country, I am talking about the EU barometer, I am not talking about what we think. We are EU fanatics, so EU fanatics cannot veto EU decisions," the prime minister said.
After the country successfully passed the interim objectives for the "Foundations" group, this next meeting in Brussels will serve to determine the final milestones for this group of chapters, which include Chapter 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, as well as Chapter 24 - Justice, Freedom and Security, the functioning of democratic institutions, public administration reform and economic criteria.
Finding consensus among member states to finally give the green light to the next important step of integration has come with a tightening of terms in the final document, approved last week by member state representatives. The EU Council document has more conditional language than the Commission's, emphasizing concrete results for the rule of law and reforms. SPAK and political pressures against it come to the fore, while corruption is described as a "core concern."
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