TIRANA – As Germany assumed the EU presidency taking over from Croatia on Wednesday the German Ambassador to Tirana, Peter Zingraf promised to further assist Albania in the fight against coronavirus and its repercussions.
Ambassador Zingraf took this opportunity to refer to the European perspective of Albania and the region. He said that Germany aims at promoting it and wished that Albanian institutions have “ambitious objectives” to conclude the reforms which are necessary for the country’s European path.
“Part of Europe’s future is also the European perspective of Albania and the region. I very much wish that the Albanian institutions set ambitious goals in the implementation of these reforms. In particular, the conditions that must be met before the First Conference of Membership are essential for the country and would need to be applicable in the near future,” said the German Ambassador.
In the meantime he recalled that the Union and its member states have already supported Albania and the region in dealing with the pandemic crisis through the mass sending of medical instruments or through the support of vulnerable groups. He pledged that the support to Albania and the region will continue in the long-term in order to mitigate the economic and social consequences.
Germany took over the European Union’s six-month presidency Wednesday, with outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel staking her legacy on a massive economic recovery plan to help the bloc cope with the coronavirus fallout.
Merkel’s last major role on the international stage comes as the 27-member club faces its deepest recession since World War II, triggered by a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people globally.
The crisis has galvanised Europe’s most powerful leader who, with just over a year left in her final term, has ditched her usual wait-and-see approach to call for “extraordinary measures” to weather the storm.
“Europe’s future is our future,” Merkel said Monday as she stood beside French President Emmanuel Macron to push for a 750-billion-euro ($843 billion) coronavirus recovery fund./argumentum.al
