In the course of his visit to Berlin, the Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Cakaj had a meeting with the President of the parliamentary group for South-Eastern Europe in the German Bundestag, Josip Juratovic.
During the meeting, Acting Minister Cakaj welcomed the German Bundestag’ pledge to provide on-going all-round and concrete assistance to Albania in the reforms, and appreciated the intensive political meetings held so far between the representatives from the Bundestag and the Albanian authorities.
Dwelling on Albania’s steps intended to help meet the five key priorities, Acting Minister Cakaj expressed confidence that the results achieved hitherto are sufficient basis for a positive decision to be made this coming June on launching the negotiations with the European Union.
He said that the start of negotiations will positively impact on improved and intensified cooperation across the region, and will be conducive to capacity building in the countries across the region so as to proceed with the reforms designed to help bring the Western Balkans up to the EU standards.
On the other hand, Juratovic shared the same opinion concerning the level of political dialogue and intensive cooperation between our two countries. He appreciated Albania’s tangible results relating to the reforms carried out, and underlined the importance of the start of negotiations for Albania this coming June, considering them a powerful signal to send out regarding Albania’s irreversible course to the European Union.
Juratovic pointed out that the reaching of the Prespa Agreement represents a highly encouraging development benefiting both the relations between Greece and North Macedonia, and the perspective of the whole Western Balkans region. He considered that, in this respect, the countries from the region must do more so as to improve regional cooperation, and reinforce the Berlin process, and expressed the willingness to provide support to Albania and the countries across the region for more concrete achievements in this aspect.