The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, in a statement for the media after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, confirmed the approval in principle of the Albanian government of the treaties for Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

She stressed that this is a very important development, which clearly speaks of the level of threat faced by the whole of Europe today and the confidence that this organization enjoys in guaranteeing the collective security of each member state.

Albania has always supported the NATO Open Door policy, for all those countries that meet the membership criteria. Sweden and Finland are not only two countries with which Albania has very good relations, but at the same are two model democracies and two valuable partners, who have made important contributions to NATO operations and missions in our region, in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, said the Albanian chief diplomat in the statement for the media.
Minister Xhaçka expressed confidence that this moment of enlargement will serve as a new momentum to further NATO enlargement in the Western Balkans, while announcing that the next step will be ratification by the Albanian Parliament.
“Here I want to emphasize especially the case of Kosovo, which shares the same principles and the same values with the Alliance,” said Minister Xhaçka.

Asked by journalists about the issue of the sea with Greece, which will be sent to The Hague Tribunal, Minister Xhaçka said that both countries are in the process of preparations, before sitting down together to find what will be the compromise that will be sent to the court.

“We are at that stage and when the time comes for us to be ready, we will sit down to agree on such a compromise, according to all legal obligations required by the court where we will take the case,” she said.