Varhely: Albania has met any conditions, ready for first intergovernmental conference

At a joint press conference by Brussels with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said Albania has fulfilled all the criteria.

“Albania is the one who, not only has suffered from pandemic, but prior to the pandemic, had to face even a strong earthquake, so the challenges are extraordinary in Albania and perhaps more in number than elsewhere in the region. And they still are. And we today, however, continue to see that Albania is producing results and is keeping the promises it has made and fulfilling the criteria that must be fulfilled for that First Intergovernmental Conference”.

This is a very important thing and we need to say this to give a very clear signal that not only Albania has been able to do this, but it has also yielded results both for the rule of law or in other areas. So let's deliver this message to rule of law for the Justice Reform. These were naturally key issues”, Varhely said.

I want to repeat what was said in this joint assessment that in the vetting process, as it is moving strongly with the Constitutional Court, with the Supreme Court, we have already reached the right place. So for our part, the assessment we're giving to EU member states is that everything has already been fulfilled for the First Intergovernmental Conference, that is, all criteria”, Varhely said.