Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, received yesterday in Madrid his Albanian counterpart, Igli Hasani, with whom he reviewed Albania’s progress in its candidacy for the European Union and the upcoming inauguration of a UNED campus in the city of Gjirokastra.
During the meeting, as reported by the Ministry in a press release, Albares reiterated “Spain’s full support” for Albania’s efforts to become one of the main candidate countries in the enlargement process of the European Union and congratulated his counterpart for the progress made in the last year on its path towards the EU.
The EU’s growth plan for the Western Balkans, the inauguration of the NATO base in Kuçova, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the current conflict in the Middle East were other issues discussed during the meeting.
For his part, Hasani, through the social network X, was “very grateful to Spain and Minister Albares for their explicit support for the integration of Albania and the Western Balkans in the EU” and specified that during the meeting they had also talked about the importance of “taking advantage of new opportunities in the tourism, energy and defense sectors.”
The two ministers also discussed the project to create, in 2024, a campus of the National University of Distance Education (UNED) in the city of Gjirokastra (World Heritage Site), which, together with the College of Europe in Tirana (to which Spain will contribute three scholarships), it will be the first non-Albanian European university campus to open in this country, “probably in the coming months.”
According to Foreign Ministry, cultural and scientific relations have improved very significantly in the last decade, as shown by the presence of the Spanish language in the Department of Hispanic Studies of the University of Tirana or the signing, during the meeting of the ministers, of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic Schools of both countries.
The day before, Igli Hasani spoke at the Madrid Chamber of Commerce in the Business Forum on Business and Investment Opportunities in Albania, in which he stated that the “strategic location” and the favorable environment for business make his country an “option “smart” for investors and tourists. “From tourism to industry, energy and export markets, Albania offers promising opportunities for growth and cooperation,” he said. Spain is currently Albania’s ninth trading partner and the Spanish market is the fifth most important for Albanian exports and the thirteenth supplier for Albania.
On January 23, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, at La Moncloa, to whom he highlighted the progress made by his country during the recent Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in its process of accession to the European Union and assured that Albania has the potential to be “at the forefront” of the enlargement process and become a model for the other candidate countries. Likewise, the two leaders addressed the investment opportunities that Albania offers as an important tourist destination and the increase in arrivals of Spanish tourists to the country.
