TIRANA (Albania), November 14 (SeeNews) – Albania should continue to deepen the current reform momentum to further consolidate progress made on judicial reform, and to deliver further tangible results in the fight against corruption and organised crime, the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said.
“2019 presents the opportunity for the region and especially for Albania to have clear progress on its European Union integration,” Mogherini said in a press release on Wednesday, following the 10th meeting of the stabilisation and association council (SA Council) between Albania and the EU held in Brussels.
The tangible results achieved in the rule of law are bound to give the Albanian authorities additional momentum to continue their hard work in addressing the challenges, she added.
“We agreed that sustained and constructive political dialogue continues to remain essential for Albania to fully address this reform agenda that is relevant for the EU, but also for the citizens of the country and we expect all political parties to work in this regard,” the EU foreign policy chief noted.
Also present, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said accession should be a shared objective by calling on Albanian political leaders to continue cross party dialogue.
The EU Commission will continue its support for Albania in a joint ambition to move the country closer to the EU, Hahn said in a separate statement in a Twitter post.
The SA Council positively noted the European Commission’s 2018 Albania report, which recommended that accession negotiations be opened with Albania, in light of the progress achieved, maintaining and deepening the current reform momentum.
Following meeting of the SA Council, at a joint press conference with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati and the EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini re-affirmed the mutual clear and strong commitment to Albania’s EU integration process.