RELATIONS BETWEEN ALBANIA AND THE NETHERLANDS

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is located in the northwestern part of Europe and has an area of about 41,528 km². The Netherlands is bounded by the North Sea to the north and west, Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south. The capital of the Netherlands and the most populated city is Amsterdam.

The political system is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. In the Netherlands the political power of the Kingdom is mainly ceremonial. The Netherlands is a member country of the EU since January 1, 1958.

OVERVIEW

The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Albania and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands) were established on November 17, 1970. After the 1990s, with the change of the political system in Albania, contacts with the Netherlands increased at all levels, in areas of mutual interest. The Embassy of the Republic of Albania in the Netherlands was opened on 24 February 1997.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is present in Albania through various assistance and programs, like Matra Rule of Law Training Programme. The Netherlands is also one of the three countries leading the Euralius judicial mission, etc. The Dutch position on the integration process of Albania is “Strict and fair.” The Netherlands has welcomed the reforms taken by Albania to advance the EU integration process, and has confirmed its position on opening negotiations talks with the EU and the holding of the First Intergovernmantal Conference.

During the last years, political relations with the Netherlands have intensified significantly. The last high-level visits were the visit of former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Mr. Stef Blok to Tirana on January 17, 2019, and the visit of Former Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gent Cakaj to Hague, on June 6, 2019. On November 10, 2021 Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, visited Tirana to reconfirm the full support of the Netherlands for the formal opening of the negotiations for membership in the European Union.