Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj met with the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic-Radman, who is on an official visit to Tirana.

The meeting was focussed on a number of important issues, including the start of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, the geo-strategic importance of the EU profound commitment to the Western Balkans, and the joint efforts to foster the economic cooperation between the two countries.

At the end of the meeting, both Ministers held a joint press conference.

In his speech, Cakaj initially thanked the Croatian counterpart for the unstinting support given to Albania from the earliest hours in the aftermath of the earthquake on 26 November 2019, and their contribution to the donors’ international conference.

Likewise, he underlined the extraordinary work done by the Croatian Presidency of the European Union Council so as to enable the start of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.

‘It is absolutely clear that Albania has fulfilled all the conditions for the start of the accession negotiations. This is neither my take on that, nor a political opinion, but an objective reality already documented by the European Commission,’ the Head of Albanian diplomacy had to say.

In terms of the bilateral cooperation, Cakaj pointed out that the parties once again underlined the great importance of the Statement on the Strategic Partnership between Albania and Croatia, and demonstrated commitment to promote the economic relations, social and cultural movements, and development of the Adriatic zone.