In an interview with Merita Haklaj on A2CNN, Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union’s Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, discussed the 12th Stabilization-Association Council, which will be place in Tirana shortly after the December 6 summit of EU leaders in the Albanian capital.
Asked about the messages that the EU is seeking to convey to Albania and the Western Balkans, Varhelyi said that Tirana is the right place, as Tirana has accelerated the European agenda like never before.
According to Varhelyi, the EU is observing Albania’s progress on the path to Europe, and the news is positive, as our country has made progress.
The 12th Stabilization-Association Council in Tirana follows the EU leaders’ summit held in Tirana on December 6. What signals does the EU wish to communicate to Albania and the Western Balkans?
I think that if I were to say it very simply, the message is that Tirana is the right place, as Tirana has accelerated the European agenda like never before. This is becoming increasingly apparent in the Balkans, as well as throughout Europe. The message we brought with us is that, following the summit in Tirana, we are now here to observe Albania’s development on its European path, and the news is good: there is progress. We held the inaugural Intergovernmental Conference last year; this year, I hope we can go forward with accession negotiations. So, we conducted an evaluation, determined what lies ahead, and I participated in a number of fairly dynamic meetings here. They were really good meetings because we have seen a lot of achievements, which we covered last year, and this year even more is expected.
Oliver Varhelyi is the European Union’s Commissioner for Neighborhood and Expansion.