The traditional friendship, the European future and the deepening of transport connectivity were discussed by the President of the National Assembly Rosen Zhelyazkov and his Albanian counterpart Lindita Nikola, reports BGNES special envoy in Tirana Dimitar Ruskov.
Zhelyazkov assured his counterpart that within a year a regular airline between the two countries will be opened, based on a sustainable business model and previously untapped opportunities.
The two interlocutors discussed investment promotion and the need to implement Corridor 8 to increase bilateral trade. Its implementation should be within the terms of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) regulation, Zhelyazkov said.
The regulation is linked to achieving the EU's objectives of sustainable mobility through the bloc's transport corridors, the proper functioning of the internal market and the EU's economic, social and territorial cohesion goals. It sets clear deadlines for the completion of the three-layer TEN-T network: the core network in Europe should be completed by 2030, the extended core network by 2040 and the comprehensive network by 2050.
"We value the traditional friendship between our countries. We are grateful for Bulgaria's support for Albania on the path to EU membership," said for her part Lindita Nicola.
"There are no pending or contentious issues between Bulgaria and Albania," Zhelyazkov said.
"Bulgaria unconditionally supports the European Commission's conclusions on Albania's progress and we hope in the coming weeks to hold the second intergovernmental conference and the actual negotiations", Zhelyazkov added. /BGNES
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