VIDEO / Rama shares footage from Von der Leyen’s visit: I wish you a good day with…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Albania yesterday, the start of her Western Balkans tour.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has published on his profile several excerpts from von der Leyen’s reception at the Prime Minister’s Office and from the joint press conference.

Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Albania on its progress toward EU membership. She asked that the pace of reforms be maintained, that their implementation continue, and she underlined the need for a commitment beyond political divides and for a dialogue with society to address all its concerns.

Von der Leyen also mentioned the Commission’s new proposals to speed up the integration process, as well as the review of the enlargement strategy, temporarily removing the veto right for new members.

“It’s not just you who are preparing — we are preparing too, because enlargement is a two-way process. The EU must also be ready to welcome new members. Next week we will present the review of our enlargement policy. We will look at our policies, our budget, to make sure the EU is ready to enlarge and to welcome new members,” the European Commission president said, among other things.

For his part, Prime Minister Rama said Albania has now entered the phase of closing the chapters of the integration process and confirmed the government’s will to move this process forward.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the major investment project in Zvërnec, stressing that an in-depth environmental study is currently awaited and that there will be full transparency on the documents and the process. He also underlined the fight against organized crime and corruption as a fixed point of Albania’s agenda.