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EU welcomes steady progress made by Albania for accession

Xinhua, December 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The European Council adopted Tuesday a conclusion report on Albania, welcoming the country's steady progress toward the opening of EU accession talks.

The report praised Albania for its constructive commitment in the region and its full adaptation to the EU foreign policy, encouraging Albania to continue economic reforms and improve the business climate for investments.

The report said a sustained, comprehensive and inclusive implementation of reforms in key priority areas has to be ensured in order to be able to open accession negotiations. Further efforts for these key priorities will be required, in particular the adoption of a judicial reform package, said the report, adding further progress also needs to be made to establish a solid track record of proactive investigations, prosecutions and final convictions at all levels in the fight against corruption and organized crimes.

In the report, the council also stressed the importance of effective legislative and policy measures for reinforcing the human rights protection and anti-discrimination policies, including the equal treatment of all minorities.

The council said that it looks forward to the implementation of the law on the exclusion of public officials who have committed crimes, saying it saw stable and constructive dialogue between political parties as being vital to the EU's progress and integration.

Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati welcomed the conclusions and said that, "For our country, the findings confirm the achievements recorded in the report ... the will and determination of the government to intensify reforms in the rule of law in the economy."

"Albania's active role in the region and full alignment with the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy are identified as valuable assets of our foreign policy," said Bushati.

"Recommendations of the European Commission, supported by the conclusions of the Council of Ministers of the EU, will constitute the political orientation of our action towards meeting key priorities, which will enable further progress towards the opening of accession negotiations," said Bushati. Endi