TIRANA, Nov 11 – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta held a two-day visit to Brussels to meet with high representatives of the European Parliament, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and also held a speech at a High Level Conference on the EU Perspectives for the Western Balkans.
Rehn and Meta held a joint press briefing at the end of Meta’s first visit to Brussels after his nomination to the post. They discussed the political situation in the country, as the opposition SP has boycotted parliament since 7 September, the Albanian Membership application, Visa Liberalization.
Rehn urged Albania, the government and the opposition to work on the remaining problems of the electoral process.
“We want political reforms and consensus which are fundamental to go ahead with the EU integration,” he said.
Rehn also urged the opposition to end the boycott and hold the political debate at the parliament. “The debate should be held at the parliament. Democratic stability is the main essence and the opposition boycott is not included in such a progress.”
Rehn said that the program was going to focus on European integration and its conditions and committed to pursue such reforms that we will help materialize. The objective of moving forward on the road to watch the European Union concerns such issues such as the fight against corruption and organized crime.
The implementation of the stabilization and association agreement which entered into force this year is moving smoothly and effectively. Still, much remains to be done; Albania needs to make progress, especially on the rule of law as well as securing the independence of judiciary.
Rehn encouraged Meta to make all necessary efforts to improve these issues, make reforms in this area. “I also encouraged Meta to improve freedom and protection of the media still too often subject to violent attacks as was the case recently with Mero Baze.”
Meta said that Albania was aware of the areas where progress should be more tangible in the near future. He said he informed Rehn, “Ưn our dedication to meet on time all the benchmarks as the roadmap for the visa liberalization process and a positive decision for which we are expecting next year.”
“I guaranteed Commissioner Rehn that the government is very committed to guarantee the freedom of media, and that all the persons involved in the last physical incident against the journalist Mero Baze are under the arrest,” said Meta.
Albania & EU
Albania is a potential candidate country for EU accession following the Thessaloniki European Council of June 2003. On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted a new European partnership with Albania. The Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the country was signed on 12 June 2006 and entered into force on 1 April 2009. It supersedes the Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related aspects, which entered into force in December 2006.The EU-Albania visa facilitation agreement entered into force in January 2008 while the readmission agreement entered into force in 2006. Albania submitted its application for EU membership on 28 April 2009.
Albania has profited from the EU autonomous trade measures since 2000. Albania’s trade with the EU expanded with the additional preferences granted following the entry into force of the Interim Agreement in December 2006. The EU is Albania’s main trade partner and in 2007 trade with the EU reached 74.5 percent of total Albania’s trade. Albania exports and imports totaled to 0.6 billion Euros and 1.8 billion Euros respectively, corresponding to 8.5 percent and 25.7 percent of GDP. Both imports and exports increased, but the gap between imports and exports widened resulting in a higher trade deficit, despite a higher growth rate for exports.
Inward processing, particularly textiles and garments, and footwear represents the main volume of Albanian exports to the EU. In 2006 foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks amounted to approximately 1.07 billion Euros with the EU-27 accounting for about 79 percent of all inflows.
Meeting NATO Secretary General
Meta met with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
They talked about issues related to Albania’s commitment as a NATO Member State and discussed Alliance policies in the Western Balkan region. Special attention was devoted to the issue of Kosovo.
Meta assured the Secretary General on Albania’s engagement in the framework of ISAF Operation, continuing in this way Albania’s contribution in Afghanistan, notably in terms of boosting security, interaction and civil contribution for the reconstruction.
Meta reconfirmed Albania’s readiness to contribute to peace and security as a NATO member state and underlined the constructive role of its policy in the region. In this regard, Mr. Meta extended the support of the Albanian Government for further NATO enlargement.
Rasmussen expressed his appreciation for Albania’s constructive contribution at all levels of NATO structure, particularly in terms of ensuring security in Afghanistan.
Rasmussen commended Albania’s regional policy on the issue of Kosovo, as a major contribution for ensuring peace and stability in the region, said a ministry statement.
Meeting Rapporteur for Albania
During his visit in Brussels, Meta also met with Nikolaos Chountis, Rapporteur for Albania at the European Parliament. They talked about issues related to the reforms of the Albanian Government, in the framework of the visa liberalization process and Albania’s full EU integration and discussed on the latest political developments in Albania.
Conference on EU prospects for Western Balkans
Meta attended the two-day conference on the EU perspective for Western Balkans, organized by Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Brussels, in which he held a speech at Panel II “Keeping the Western Balkans on the Reform Track.” Meta gave an overview of the developments in the framework of European integration and visa liberalization, laying the emphasis on the Government’s efforts to meet in the proper time and quality all obligations stemming from these processes.
The last two decades for Western Balkans do easily identify the amazing transformation might of the EU membership prospect for the countries of this region, he said.
After pointing out that Albania and other countries of the region have advanced in the EU rapprochement process, Meta underlined the determination for the further intensification of reforms, the consolidation of cooperation and regional integration processes. He stated that: “EU integration is a mutually challenging process. Our challenge is to go beyond ourselves in all respects, both in terms of domestic reforms and regional relations.”
He said that “we find ourselves again in a fortunate moment, since the new European Treaty and the new spirit of cooperation that it would foster would be beneficial for our integration processes. The continued European integration will bring only mutual benefits: for us progress, stability and prosperity, whereas for the EU more stability and complementarity.”
