[ad_1]
Today, Albania starts the official talks at the table with the European Union, this historic day after 16 years since the signing of the Stabilization-Association agreement, where the journey towards the EU began, and 8 years after receiving the status of a candidate country.
25 government and administration figures involved in the integration process will make up the Albanian delegation that will participate in the first Albania-EU Intergovernmental Conference today in Brussels.
The delegation is headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, and by his side will be the Foreign Minister, Olta Xhaçka, the chief negotiator Zef Mazi, as well as other officials involved in this process.
The meeting will last 90 minutes and after it, there will be a press conference. The EU delegation is led by the Czech diplomat, whose country holds the bloc’s next presidency, as well as High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who have strongly supported the rapid opening of the EU. to this conference, what was possible after the unblocking of the stalemate created by the Macedonian parliament with Bulgaria, through the approval of the French proposal on Saturday.
Albania received the status of a candidate country in June 2014, although in March 2020 the European Council decided to open negotiations for its membership, it had to wait two more years, and this is because some countries of the bloc wanted to they saw Tirana and Skopje advancing together towards the European Union. Thus, North Macedonia will also hold the first Intergovernmental Conference with the EU tomorrow in Brussels, in which Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski will read the opening statement in the Macedonian language.
After that, the verification that will last a year and a half begins and after the end of that process, the next intergovernmental conference is planned, which will finish the opening phase of membership negotiations and its holding is conditional on the changes in the Constitution.
The French proposal envisaged overcoming the differences between Skopje and Sofia regarding the Macedonian language, identity and historical past, while the Bulgarian side asks the Macedonian side to include the Bulgarian minority in the preamble of the constitution, as equal to other peoples.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
