European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Edi Rama opened their joint conference after Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Tirana – marking the start of her trip to the Balkans.
These are some of the takeaways from the joint press conference of Prime Minister Rama and Ursula von der Leyen taking place in Tirana, before the EC President continues her trip to the rest of the Balkan countries .
“Berlin Process versus Open Balkans”
A highlight of the press conference was the EC President’s response to the question posed by Euronews Albania correspondent Eksiola Shehu regarding her position on the Open Balkans initiative.
Von der Leyen said the Berlin process has started to work through the integration of a common market, but this also allows for other regional initiatives to emerge, which must be “inclusive and respectful”.
“Let me say once again that the Berlin process has already started. You also have our commitment to advancing the Berlin process. Can there be other initiatives? They must be comprehensive and able to respect all the common objectives of integration into this common regional market. These initiatives must be global, visionary and must absolutely respect all common objectives. Only in this way will you benefit from my greatest support”, – said the President of the EC.
For his part, Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the “opening of the Balkans” is not a process intended to compete with the Berlin process, but rather it simply proves how “someone can get out of trouble.” “.
According to Rama, “Open Balkan” is a regional initiative intended to advance the initiative which cannot be constantly postponed by the Berlin process, which “has not succeeded, in 8 years, in tearing down the wall which separates the Balkans”. the Western Balkans of the EU”.
Furthermore, Rama said that compared to the “Berlin Process”, in “the open Balkans” everyone can choose to be part of the initiative, without taking any other country hostage.
“Albania’s future is in the EU”
“Let me be clear: Albania’s future is in the European Union,” the European Commission president said at the conference.
Furthermore, von der Leyen stressed that Albania and North Macedonia deserve to be part of the EU and there is no doubt about it.
“I have given my full support so that we can move forward as quickly as possible in the accession negotiations of Albania and North Macedonia to the EU,” said the EC President, adding that we also had to look forward to the first intergovernmental meeting. Conference.
Von der Leyen also added that ideally the process of accession negotiations should start before the end of the year.
Furthermore, von der Leyen added that she was a strong supporter of the Berlin process.
“The six partners in the region must remain united and move quickly towards the common regional market, so I thank you for mentioning the importance of the Berlin process. I am a supporter of this process. We are your partners and we will stand by you,” she said.
“230 million euros in funding for the pandemic”
Prime Minister Rama praised the personal contribution of the President of the EC, as well as the EU’s support for the reconstruction of Albania, after the tragic earthquake that hit the country in 2019.
The donor conference, as well as the funds granted to Albania, are, according to Prime Minister Rama, a concrete reason not to lose patience with the EU.
“Albania received 230 million euros in financial aid to help it recover from the pandemic,” the EC president said.
The entire region benefited from 3.3 billion euros in grants and other funding, mainly for medical equipment and relief programs, Von der Leyen said.
In her speech, the EC President also urged citizens to get vaccinated, while calling the EU’s recognition of Albania’s anti-Covid certificates good news.
