The two-day mission of Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Vincenzo Amendola to Albania ends today.
The Italian Government representative attended the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia). The meeting, which was also attended by European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn, allowed discussions to be held on a number of infrastructure and energy interconnection projects between the Western Balkan nations launched as part of the Berlin Process. The meeting also served to prepare the annual summit of Member States of the Berlin Process, which is due to take place in Paris on 4th July this year, and which will be hosted by Italy in 2017.
On the fringes of the event, the Undersecretary met the Speaker of the Albanian parliament Ilir Meta, the Deputy Prime Minister Niko Peleshi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati and the President of the Democratic Party Lulzim Basha. The discussions provided an opportunity to review the excellent state of bilateral relations between the two countries, and to reiterate Italy’s strong support for Albania’s European accession process. Particular praise was expressed for the programme to consolidate the rule of law and revive the economy implemented by the Rama Government. All the parties called for a strengthening of economic relations, particularly in the fields of agriculture and tourism.
During his visit to Albania, Undersecretary Amendola held bilateral meetings with the Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Bosnian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Serbian Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. The meetings with all three government representatives examined various aspects of bilateral and regional cooperation. The Italian side reiterated its support for the European Union accession processes of the respective countries. All three meetings focused in particular on the migration issue and the so-called Balkan route.
Finally, Undersecretary Amendola visited the Guardia di Finanza’s maritime frontier post in Durres, which has been operating since 1997 to provide assistance, advice and training to the Albanian maritime border police.
