Albania's justice system reform is comprehensive and is "advancing steadily" but the country needs to do more to move toward full EU membership, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th March, 2023) Albania's justice system reform is comprehensive and is "advancing steadily" but the country needs to do more to move toward full EU membership, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday.
"Albania has implemented a comprehensive justice reform which has been advancing steadily and this is a clear opportunity now to move forward. Albanian Institutions should speed up reforms," Borrell told a press conference in Albania's Tirana during the EU-Albania Stabilization and Association Council.
He also highly assessed the role of the Stabilization and Association Council in terms of preparing for Albania's EU membership.
"We use the Stabilization and Association Council as the most important institutional direction between the EU and Albania so in these kinds of meetings we take stock of the progress in preparation of the membership we review, what has been done and we discuss where more efforts are needed," Borrell said.
On March 16, Albania and the EU met for the 12th Stabilization and Association Council to review the relations between the EU and Albania under the Stabilization and Association Process and discuss political and economic criteria of the country's accession to the EU. It was the first meeting of the Council to take place in the capital of Albania, Tirana.
Albania applied for the EU membership in 2009 and was granted the status of candidate country in 2014. In 2022, accession negotiations between Albania and the EU were opened.
