The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, had a meeting the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra, in Tirana.

Minister Xhaçka praised the fruitful cooperation between the two countries, as well as the support of the Netherlands in the process of Albania’s integration into the European Union.

“The good news is that the cooperation between Albania and the Netherlands has begun to touch on areas that would have been difficult to think about in the past. Here I want to mention the Albanian-Dutch initiative that Prime Ministers Rama and Rutte have agreed on, which aims to elaborate President Macron’s idea for a European Political Community in a concrete plan with several points, which therefore establishes a concrete relationship of cooperation for the drafting of this document that will be presented in October of this year at the Prague Summit for the Western Balkans”, said the Albanian chief diplomat.

Minister Xhaçka also spoke about the decision of the government of Albania to cut diplomatic ties with Iran, stating that this comes as a response to the unprovoked cyber-attack that occurred on July 17.

Meanwhile, Minister Hoekstra reconfirmed the Netherlands’ support for Albania, as he condemned Iran’s cyber-attack on Albania

“Albania has its place in the EU. On behalf of the Netherlands, I can say that we support and encourage your country as you work towards EU membership. I would like to express my solidarity to the Albanian government and people for the severe impact of the recent malicious cyber activities in your country. These actions are completely unacceptable,” he said.