Haxhinasto conducts intensive lobbying for Albania

TIRANA, Nov. 9 – Albania’s lobbying in the world on its image, European integration, bilateral ties and more has been at the center of the activities of the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinasto during the last week.
He held a meeting with the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Thomas Mirow during his participation at the Summit of Central European Initiative held in Belgrade, Serbia last weekend.
Haxhinasto stressed that the very good cooperation has made the implementation of projects move along smoothly. He also urged the acceptance of Kosovo as a member of the Bank with full rights in a near future.
The EBRD president was confident in the success of all projects in Albania.
During the conference Haxhinasto also met with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic to discuss bilateral cooperation. They urged more work on the completion of agreements in areas of common interest such as education, transportation, and others. Haxhinasto also said it would be of great interest to hold a joint business forum, during which the business communities of both countries would further strengthen ties and cooperation and identify areas of mutual interest.
Haxhinasto also took part in the session of the Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe held in Strasbourg on Monday.
Haxhinasto expressed his country’s will and commitment and its concrete contribution to the promotion of the fundamental values and priorities in the realization of the main activities of the Council of Europe.
Haxhinasto met with the CoE General Secretary Thorbjoern Jagland in which he praised the Council of Europe’s role in strengthening democracy, rule of law and protection of human rights, and the contribution that this organization has made in consolidating democratic institutions in Albania, electoral reform, and others.
Haxhinasto said Albania would follow the priorities of Troika, Ukraine–Albania and Britain as well as host a conference with the participation of CoE countries and North Africa to identify areas of assistance for these countries in transition to democratic societies. Albania is to take a six-month presidency in May 2012 during which it pledged to continue with the priorities of Troika and will cooperate closely with the secretariat to effectively implement these priorities.