TIRANA – The EU decision to open the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia in March this year has been completely deserved, has said Standing rapporteur of the European Parliament for Albania, Isabel Santos.
“All the efforts made by Albania and North Macedonia needed to have a positive response by the member states,” Ms. Santos said in an interview with the European Western Balkans portal published on Monday. She was very disappointed with the postponement of the decision last October.
“I know that there are still many things to be done, and lots of steps to be completed, but this is without a doubt a sign that EU member states recognize all that has been achieved, and look positively for the next phase of this process,” said the rapporteur.
Ms. Santos could not give a concrete answer when it is expected the fulfillment of all conditions by Albania for the first intergovernmental conference “Unfortunately and due to the current state of emergency I cannot give a concrete answer regarding timings or dates. Although I know that both parties are continuing their cooperation and work to meet those conditions, the fight against the global pandemic is now on the forefront of everyone’s mind,” she said.
The rapporteur said that the EU continues to be active on the field, helping with the reconstruction efforts after the earthquake in Albania, and according to her the first €15 million are already helping with school reconstructions. She highlighted the latest news of donations of testing kits and the activation of the macro financial assistance that will allocate €180 million to Albania.
With regard to the restrictive measures against Covid-19 in Albania, Ms. Isabel said that it is a very difficult time for everyone. “I am very aware that some measures are harder to cope with and to implement than others. It is important that we all cooperate to help in the fight against this virus in a proportionate way,” she said. “The Albanian authorities acted in a timely manner and thanks to the use of containment measures and the extraordinary discipline of the Albanian people, they managed to prevent an exponential evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak,” the EP Standing rapporteur for Albania Santos said. /argumentum.al
