The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, welcomed at the premises of the Albanian Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the General Director of the General Directorate for Neighborhood and Enlargement of the European Commission (DG NEAR), Gert Jan Koopman.

Minister Xhaçka emphasized that after the aggression in Ukraine, the Western Balkan region is more vulnerable than ever.

According to her, it is in the interest of the EU to bring the region closer to EU in order to prevent regression in all the achievements so far.

The Albanian Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, stated that the process of reviewing the EU Acquis, so far, has been carried out with high determination and that Albania’s goal in 2023 is for the Council to approve the review report of the core group in the middle of the year and the opening of the cluster within the second intergovernmental conference until the end of the year.

This is the first visit of the Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement of the European Commission to the region, after taking office in January 2023.