European youth convene in Tirana

TIRANA, Oct. 3 – Politically-active European youth held a meeting in Tirana, urging the EU to quickly process membership for Western Balkan countries.
They had convened for the Balkan Training Days 2010 “with our belief in the European values, in the free movement of the youth in Europe, and our trust that the removal of the administrative barriers will create an opportunity of communication and exchange between all young Europeans from the Western Balkans and EU.”
They also urged the EU to give the go ahead for the visa-free regime for Albania and Bosnia as both countries have already completed the remaining criteria asked for. They “ask the Council of the European Union in session, to approve the request to remove the current visa regime for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to take into account the significant achievements of the Albanian and BiH institutions.” they made the same appeal to the European Parliament who is to give its approval in a voting later this week.
They said they “strongly believe that the time has come to open a new chapter in relations between the EU and Western Balkan countries.”
The declaration made at the event said that during the past decade all the countries of the Western Balkans have advanced considerably in their reform agendas, and made notable progress in their pursuit of the priorities set by the Thessaloniki Agenda adopted at the European Council in 2003 and the ensuing European Partnerships. The EU’s commitment to the European future of the region has contributed to the fruitful development of regional cooperation, democratization and developmental processes in each of the countries concerned, as well as to bringing stability to the region.
The governments of the region have demonstrated that they can deliver if the conditions are clearly defined, transparent and measurable as in the case of visa liberalization, says the declaration made at the event.