On 14-15 October 2020, Mr. Zef Mazi, Albania’s Chief Negotiator for EU accession negotiations paid a fruitful working visit to Slovenia.
During his stay in Ljubljana, Chief Negotiator Mazi held several working meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Secretary of State, Mr. Gašper Dovžan, and the former Slovenian Chief Negotiator, Mr. Andrej Engelman. Chief Negotiator Mazi also held a hearing with a joint delegation of the Foreign Policy Committee and the EU Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of Slovenia, chaired by their chairs, Mrs. Monika Gregorčič and Mr. Marko Pogačnik.
With Secretary of State Dovžan, they exchanged views on Albania’s progress on the EU path. Chief Negotiator Mazi shared with him the progress made by Albania in meeting the priorities before the First Intergovernmental Conference, as well as the stage of internal preparations of the Albanian administration for the launch of EU membership negotiations.
The Slovenian interlocutors recognized and welcomed the very positive developments in meeting the priorities before the first IGC from Albania and confirmed the Slovenian support for making it possible to hold the first IGC with Albania within 2020.
It was also agreed with the Slovenian side to intensify efforts to increase their support in the framework of the preparation of the Albanian administration for the negotiations, including the identification of some specific areas of cooperation within the chapters.
In the meeting with the deputies of the entire political spectrum represented in the National Assembly of Slovenia, their unanimous support was expressed for the progress of Albania on the European path, the approval by consensus of the negotiating framework for Albania and the holding of the first Intergovernmental Conference immediately after it. In order to increase inter-parliamentary cooperation and the role of national parliaments in intergovernmental discussions, Chief Negotiator Mazi invited them to visit Albania.