Senior Croatian diplomats have congratulated Albania on the great progress it has made in all areas of reform and on meeting all the requirements for holding the first Intergovernmental Conference with the EU.
Albania’s Chief Negotiator for EU Integration Zef Mazi was received on Wednesday in Zagreb by the Secretary of State for Europe, Andreja Metelko-Zgombic, the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser and former Chief Negotiator until Croatia’s entry to the EU, Ambassador Vladimir Drobnjak, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, Josip Salapic.
They expressed optimism that there will be good news ahead. Chief Negotiator Mazi acquainted the interlocutors with the wide range of intensive preparations and reforms, the determination of the Government for their continuation without slowing down because it is in the best interest of Albania and its people.
Mazi outlined a number of areas where Croatian support and assistance would be welcome.
The Croatian hosts expressed their full readiness and assured the Albanian diplomat of Croatia ‘s full support for Albania’ s advancement towards the EU by holding the Conference and starting technical talks on the chapters of Union’s EU legal corpus.
They underlined that Croatia’s support has been unwavering and will continue to be so. Many opinions were exchanged on the continuation of cooperation and specific assistance in various and concrete areas. Croatia has a very good experience in the field. The interlocutors expressed their readiness to share this experience with Albania immediately.
“Albania which has fulfilled all the requirements of the European Council of March 2020 with the merit of its work expects a positive decision on the date of sitting at the table of the talks. Merit is the basic principle of the EU for evaluating candidate countries,” said Mazi.
He also met with Ermina Prljaskaj, a Croatian- Albanian member of the Parliament and a member of several key parliamentary committees. / www.argumentum.al
