TIRANA, December 1 – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Albanian President Bajram Begaj described the European Union-Western Balkans summit, which will be held on December 6 in Tirana, as a historic event for Albania and will illuminate the path of EU integration.
At the joint press conference in Tirana on Thursday after the bilateral talks, German President Steinmeier said that “we have to take into consideration that it is a meeting between the countries of the EU and the Western Balkans. It is not a question of a summit, which will have certain decisions.”
The German President is on official visit to Albania coming from North Macedonia which was the first leg of his tour on Wednesday.
“At this summit, the process done so far on the path of integration into the EU will be highlighted again, giving the necessary encouragement to continue on this path for the six countries of the Western Balkans,” said the German president. “Albania and North Macedonia, which we visited in the last 2 days, are countries that could proudly present themselves in this process and have set this milestone in the EU membership process through the opening of negotiations.”
For his part, President Begaj said that the EU-Western Balkans summit will be held in a few days, which is a historic event for Albania. “Albania, I can say, is the country where, according to all surveys, the highest percentage of the population wants to be part of the EU as soon as possible,” he said.
Further Begaj stated that every effort for dialogue and finding a solution between Kosovo and Serbia and every proposal related to it is welcomed by Albania, which has always been in favor of dialogue. Begaj said that the Franco-German proposal or the Brussels proposal is welcome for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
According to the Albanian head of state, it is important to implement the agreements and for Kosovo and Serbia to respect the signed accords.
In the meantime the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed that he is not the sender of important proposals, but any contribution he brings to reducing the escalation of conflicts is welcome. /Argumentum.al
