TIRANA (Albania), April 23 (SeeNews) – Western Balkans Fund (WBF) said it signed a host country agreement with Albania providing the Fund with the functional conditions for its daily operations.
“The Host Country Agreement between WBF and Republic of Albania represents a fulfilled commitment not just to Western Balkans Fund Contracting Parties, but also to all partners involved in Fund’s creation and development,” the Fund said in a statement on Friday, following the signing of the agreement between the WBF executive director Gjergj Murra and Albania’s foreign minister Ditmir Bushati.
WBF aims at bringing more cooperation and people-to-people contacts in the Western Balkans, Murra said.
The agreement represents another key moment of the positive contribution of Albania to the region, as well as part of Albania’s commitment and determination for the Europeanization of the region within the framework of the Berlin Process, Bushati said.
The WBF says its main objective is to boost cooperation between its members (Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo); to strengthen relations and regional cohesion in key areas such as education and scientific exchanges, cultural cooperation, cross-border and youth cooperation, sustainable development; and to advance integration into the European Union.
Last week, the European Commission recommended that EU accession talks be opened with Albania in light of the progress achieved in the implementation of the EU's enlargement policy.