Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj attended the Visegrád countries (V4) and Western Balkans Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Prague.

In the meeting, the Visegrád countries’ support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans was once again reiterated, and the support for the start of the EU accession negotiations for Albania was also confirmed.

In a Facebook post, Cakaj pointed out that two main issues concerning the region were laid out in the meeting.

First, the Head of Albanian diplomacy dwelt on the importance of launching EU accession negotiations for Albania.

‘As it has hitherto been confirmed by the European Commission as well, Albania has met all the required conditions for the accession talks to start. Adoption of the new methodology of accession negotiations has given rise to a new political momentum within the European Union, which must be used to best advantage anyway,’ Cakaj stated.

Second, Cakaj underscored how important is to grant visa liberalisation to the Republic of Kosovo, given that Kosovo has met all the required conditions conducive to the free movement. Hence, a delay in this regard, according to him, would be unfair.

‘I also underlined that the product of an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia must be nothing other than mutual recognition,’ Cakaj ends his post.