"The EU and Europe are the only place where Albania wants to be, the only place where we want to leave to future generations freedoms, rights, the rule of law and security," Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said in Luxembourg.
Rama led the Albanian delegation at the second Albania-EU intergovernmental conference.
The conference kicked off the first stage of membership negotiations. The first cluster is called "Fundamental issues". The meeting in Luxembourg comes just three days after the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the EU Member States (Coreper) adopted a decision to open the first cluster in Albania's membership negotiations.
Rama stressed that "Albania will be ready for the EU by 2030".
"I have to thank Vladimir Putin, who, because of the fierce offensive war, woke up the most skeptical and made them see the reality that the Western Balkans are needed for a stronger EU as much as the EU is needed for the Western Balkans," Rama said, as quoted by Albanian media.
"We will do our utmost and work quickly to ensure that this exceptional window of opportunity will not close without us, inside the European Union," Rama added.
BGNES reminds that Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia were supposed to start EU membership negotiations together, but due to the refusal of the regime of Christian Mickoski to fulfil its obligations under the negotiating framework, the RSM was separated from Albania. | BGNES
