TIRANA, October 6 – The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama has participated in the reception organized by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala before the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC).
EPC’s first summit, a pan-European leaders’ platform to discuss common challenges, kicked off on Thursday in Prague, the Czech capital.
PM Rama responded to the interest of journalists on the issues that will be discussed at Thursday’s meeting of the European Political Community in a statement to the media before this event.
“Of course it’s not a new idea, it’s a very old idea, but reborn in times of crisis, and I hope we won’t have another crisis where we don’t have to hold meetings like this, but we will continue and build something very important for the whole European community and people in this meeting,” said Rama.
Asked about the added value of the European Political Community for Albania, he said that Albania is part of the Western Balkans region, surrounded by the countries of the European Union as a whole and it is absolutely decisive for this country that even though it is not yet in the EU, it is European.
Heads of state and government from 44 countries – the 27 EU members and 17 other European countries, including Turkey, the UK, Serbia – participate at the summit hosted by the Czech government that assumes the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, said AA. Only Russia and Belarus are not attending.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who proposed in May to set up the European Political Community, called the summit an “important moment” since it brings the “message of European unity” and starts “strategic discussions that have not existed before.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the European Political Community will be a useful forum that would bring together political leaders more often to exchange views on key issues without the pressure of having to agree on an official communiqué. Scholz underlined that with the European Political Community they are not aiming to create new institutions, structures, or bureaucracy, but would like to enable a more frequent exchange of views between the leaders of European countries.
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu highlighted that “each and every one of us are on equal footing” at the summit to “bring forward ideas and participate in action when it comes to the common challenges we are facing.”
During the summit, all leaders participate together at an opening session and closing dinner, and take part in smaller groups in roundtable discussions on various topics, such as security, stability, energy, climate, mobility, and economy.
They also hold bilateral talks on the margins of the event.
EU leaders will continue with an informal summit on Friday to discuss the bloc’s response to the energy crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine. /Argumentum.al
