Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ditmir Bushati attended the Annual Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Visegrad countries (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) and Western Balkans countries. This meeting was held in Budapest in the framework of the Presidency of the Visegrad Group. The Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Romania, Bulgaria, and representatives of Estonia, Croatia, Slovenia, also attended the meeting.

Identifying the steps for accelerating the EU enlargement process, not only as a technical exercise, but also as an instrument in meeting security challenges in Europe, was on focus of the discussions.

The Visegrad group countries urged that a target date for the official opening of accession negotiations with Albania should be determined. They praised Albania's progress, especially on the reform of the justice system, and demanded that this progress be clearly reflected in EU decision-making.

Minister Bushati, in his speech praised the importance of the Visegrad countries and their support so that the EU's recent commitment to the enlargement process is translated into concrete steps.

The Minister highlighted the importance of the enlargement agenda as an essential element for our region but also for the EU itself. While informing on the ongoing progress in the implementation of the reforms undertaken by Albanian governments, Minister Bushati emphasized that "the implementation of the vetting” is a key step to succeed in the process of opening negotiations for our European Union membership.