Soreca: “Albania needs to fulfill four main conditions”
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TIRANA, March 26 - During an online conference on Thursday, the EU Ambassador to Albania Luigi Soreca said that Albania will need to fulfill four main conditions until the upcoming intergovernmental conference. These include the adoption of the electoral reform, the establishment of the Constitutional and Supreme Court, the establishment of specialized anti-corruption bodies of the SPAK and the BKH, as well as the fight against crime and corruption.
"We need to talk about the negotiating framework, which is the structure of the relationship between the EU and Albania. Now the intention is to prepare this framework and submit it with the EC's annual report in June, then it will be the member states that will decide on the adoption which will happen if Albania fulfills these requirements by mid-2020. It will be Germany that will have the EU Presidency convening the first intergovernmental conference," Soreca said in regard to the four main conditions which Albania must meet before the first intergovernmental meeting.
Moreover, the EU ambassador pointed out that Albania has made improvements in several areas during the last six months such as the "establishment of SPAK, the appointment of head of ILD, the general prosecutor, director of BKH as well as setting the table for the electoral reform."
When asked about the 50 million fund allocated to Albania in the fight against COVID-19, Soreca stated that nothing will be taken out of the post-earthquake funds as the 50 million euros are given to Albania in the form of a grant instead of a loan.
Ealier on Monday, Albania and North Macedonia were given the green light for the opening of accession talks by the General Affairs Council of the EU. The decision which came ate a time of a global crisis, was welcomed by officials of both countries, marking a great step for the Western Balkans towards EU integration. On the same day, the EU pledged 50 million euros to help Albania fight the coronavirus outbreak.