In the context of the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik as President of the Council, Commissioner Olli Rehn, the Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the representatives of all the EU Member States signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and Albania.
"The signature of this agreement is a milestone on Albania’s road to European standards. Its conclusion was first made possible by progress in Albania’s democratisation process and on market reforms”, Foreign Minister Plassnik said on the occasion of the signature.
"It is now up to Albania to implement its commitments under the agreement in full. That is a great challenge. Most of the reform tasks still to be completed can be accomplished only by Albania itself. However, the European Union will continue to give Albania effective support on its road to modernisation”, she continued.
"At the meeting of foreign ministers from the EU and the Western Balkan countries in March 2006 in Salzburg, we confirmed these countries’ long-term perspective of EU membership. By concluding this agreement Albania has taken an important step in moving closer to Europe. However, the speed of this process will depend on Albania’s performance in meeting the EU’s conditions. Today's signature marks the beginning of the real work”, Plassnik concluded.
The Stabilisation and Association Agreement governs relations between the EU and the Republic of Albania, both political and economic cooperation, and provides for the creation of a free-trade area between the European Union and Albania within ten years. Following the agreement with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Croatia, this is the third such agreement with countries of the Western Balkans. Negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and with Serbia and Montenegro are currently in progress.
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