BERLIN, Sept. 26 – President of Albania, Ilir Meta, conducted a meeting with German President, Frank Walter Steinmeier, after the latter’s official invitation.
The German president ceremonially welcomed the recently-appointed-president Meta and expressed appreciation for the bilateral relations between the countries and Albania’s European ambitions. Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe, was also present at the meeting.
Steinmeier stated that “the relations between the two countries are excellent and this visit testifies to that. Germany gives Albania special attention, supports its internal reforms and appreciates its role in the Balkans.”
President Meta, in turn, expressed gratitude towards Germany’s continuous support and help towards Albania’s process of EU integration and NATO accession. He also assured the German president that judicial reforms in the country will proceed as planned, especially in order to create a welcoming climate for all interested domestic and foreign investors and to ensure continuing EU accession negotiations.
More specifically, Meta said: “The present relations for a strategic cooperation are excellent, and have strengthened the last 30 years, creating an equally excellent climate for the expansion of cooperation in all fields.”
Meta’s meeting with Steinmeier – which was the President’s second official meeting abroad – serves to confirm what recently re-selected Chancellor Angela Merkel declared, after the victory of her Christian-Democrat Party in German elections. Although Merkel’s party received its fourth mandate in a row, the supporting figures were not as high as expected. More importantly, Germany’s far-right nationalistic party, the AfD, came third in the elections, after a criticizing campaign towards Merkel’s refugee accepting policies. Faced with this outcome, crowds of protesters took the streets of Germany, while the international arena was left wondering what the implications of the results were for Germany’s foreign policy.
When asked, Merkel said that she doesn’t think the AfD will have any say in Germany’s foreign policies, the Voice of America reported. She added that the parties which are able to form a coalition will request solutions, but the AfD will have no influence. In addition, the Social Democrat Party’s defeat will allow Merkel to create a coalition with the pro-business Democratic Party and the Green Party, both of which are EU-optimistic.
As for the Balkan countries’ accession negotiations specifically, Tobias Flessenkemper, head of the Balkan project in the International Centre of European Formation, said for local media that neither Trump’s presidency nor the Brexit, or Macron’s election can sufficiently alter the outlined policies of the EU. As for Merkel’s possible future coalition, he said that “both small parties are widely pro-EU. The Green Party has always been very interested and supportive towards the Balkans.”
Coincidentally, the president’s meeting with his German homologue took place on the eve of the opening of the German October in Tirana, an event organized by the German Embassy to promote and further support the diplomatic relations between the two countries through a series of cultural, political and socio-economic activities centered on German tradition.
