Today in Tirana, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Marina Sereni, met with the Albanian Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Etjen Xhafaj.
“Italy stands by Albania, which has promoted courageous domestic reforms also in view of proceeding on the road towards the European Union accession process,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said, expressing Italy’s disappointment for the failure to open EU-Albania negotiations. She said: “It is a historic error. We will continue to assure our support to enlarging the EU to the Western Balkans, and especially to Albania’s EU accession process.” With a view to further continuing the ongoing reform efforts, the Deputy Minister pointed out the need for all the Country’s political parties to commit to resume a constructive and inclusive dialogue, thus overcoming the current political polarisation.
During the day, the Deputy Minister attended the presentation of the book “Italiani dell’Est” (“Italians of the East”) by Riccardo Venturi and Lorenzo Colantoni: the story of Italian communities in eleven East European Countries. The book is part of the “Italians of Europe” series published with the support of the Foreign Ministry’s Directorate General for Italians Abroad. Tomorrow, still in Tirana, the Deputy Minister will attend the annual OSCE Mediterranean Conference as a member of the OSCE ministerial Troika.
