Von der Leyen’s visit, Koçi: It was a positive message for Albania’s EU integration

Former Socialist Party MP Petro Koçi described the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Tirana as positive, linking it to the progress of the European integration process.

Speaking on the “3D nga Alban Dudushi” show on RTSH, Koçi said the visit conveyed optimism about Albania’s advancement towards the European Union, while stressing that the main challenge remains completing the accession process and its ratification by the member states.

“It was a very positive visit within a process that is moving at a very fast pace as far as European integration is concerned, and I think it is a visit that brings optimism overall, in relation to the completion of the process, which of course is ratified by the Commission and will necessarily require that most difficult moment, which is the vote in the parliaments of the European Union member states,” Koçi said.

He stressed that what remains important for Albania is completing the process, which after the institutional phases will also require ratification by the parliaments of the EU member states. According to him, alongside Albania’s advancement, it also matters how the European Union itself will continue to function and to take decisions on enlargement.

“Although I think the European Union’s biggest challenge is the way it itself functions, rather than enlargement in itself. That is, whether decision-making outside the veto power of the member states will be achieved or not,” Koçi said.

Koçi said that as long as the integration process is positive for Albania, it is also positive for the state.

“As long as it is [positive] for Albania, of course it is also for the government — that is, discussing this process simply from a technical point of view especially, but also from some dynamics that need to be seen from two perspectives. I remember in a discussion we had on the day the house arrest happened of the lady who headed the Intelligence Service, I said that of course there are two perspectives. One is critical, because we are dealing with an event that is very serious, but there is also another perspective, because it was the state that brought the lady before justice. So when we dig deeper, SPAK is not an organism that comes from the Moon; it is a SPAK created by the Albanian state, by Albanian politics, and that means we can still dig deeper and say the state functions,” Koçi said.