EP Says Accession Talks with Albania after 15 Conditions Met

TIRANA – Accession talks with Albania can be launched after European Parliament sees that the aspirant country has fulfilled
15 conditions set to it.
An amendment presented by the MEP, King Gal with the request of the Rapporteur for Albania, David Lega, which was voted by the European Parliament on Thursday, ruled that the first intergovernmental conference with EU Member States could start following fulfillment of the 15 conditions.
The initial resolution drafted by the Croatian socialist MEP, Tonino Picula did not mention the conditions that EU had set to the Albanian Government in March 2020 in the Zagreb Summitt when the decision to open the talks was made.
But a few days before Thursday’s plenary session of EP the Parliamentary Group of EPP submitted an amendment to the resolution for Western Balkans which was voted on Thursday with 388 votes pro, 280 against and 19 abstentions saying the fulfillment of the conditions were a must for Albania to have the accession talks started.
The amendment said that the resolution stresses the 15 conditions, decided by the Council of the European Union, which Albania needs to fulfill prior to its first intergovernmental conference with EU Member States. /argumentum.al