Brussels – Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Elisa Spiropali, met this morning with EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos.

The meeting with the senior EU official analyzed the pace of the negotiation process, reforms, results and expectations for Albania’s European journey.

The minister emphasizes in a post that in the European Commission, “Albania is distinguished and valued as a country where promises and commitments are not words, but deeds, as shown by the progress of the implementation of the New Growth Plan.”

“Thanks to structural reforms in the areas of competitiveness, sustainable development, economic integration, energy and digitalization, the European Commission recently disbursed 100 million euros to Albania under this instrument,” writes Spiropali.

Kos and Spiropali stopped by the “Enlargement Wall” in the Commissioner’s office, which reflects the progress of countries towards the accession negotiation process, and where Commissioner Kos says that one country stands out for its impressive success, Albania.

“As you can see here, one of the most successful countries in the enlargement group is Albania with almost all the chapters open, except for the last one. With your help, Madam Minister, we hope to change this color (of the last chapter group) from red to yellow in November.”

During the meeting with Spiropali, the Commissioner stressed that “we welcome and support Albania’s ambition to conclude the accession negotiations by 2027”.

Commissioner Kos congratulated Albania on the results achieved under the Growth Plan, setting a positive example in the region.

In her statement in front of the “Enlargement Wall”, Spiropali said that Albania’s progress reflects the vocation of the Albanian people as the most pro-EU people in the region and perhaps in Europe.

Minister Sipropali assured that Albania considers enlargement as a merit-based and reform-driven process. The Minister assured that Albania will continue to do everything necessary to meet the standards, as “we understand that this is not a bureaucratic process, but rather a transformative process”.

“Albania is a European country and has been there since the beginning of time and is now ready to stand with Europe within the Union”, said Spiropali.