EU signs SAA with Albania
Uncategorized Tuesday, February 21st, 2006Tirana, Feb. 19 (AENews) – The European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso signed on Friday (Feb. 17) in Tirana the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Albania, meanwhile conveying to the Albanian authorities the idea that this step should be viewed as ‘another compromise’.
After the signing, the Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha declared that “this is an important day for Albania”, meanwhile Mr. Barroso thanked “all the Albanian governments that have contributed to achieve this day”.
The SAA talks between the EU and Albania started back in January 2003. Now, the pre-membership signing will need to be approved by all the EU member counties before it enters into force. After this signing the process “is hoped to finish by spring” according to Barroso.
The European Commission made clear to the Albanian government the fact that “there is still a lot of work to be done”.
Brussels has already stated that there is now no other alternative for all the Western Balkans other than integration. However, the time that integration will require will be dependent on the individual integration process for each candidate country. Experts estimate that Albania will receive its EU membership by around 2015.
Short URL: http://www.albanianeconomy.com/news/?p=121
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on Feb 21 2006. Filed under Uncategorized.
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