Balkan foes find common ground in bid to join EUTirana, 22 May 2015 (MIA) - Foreign ministers and senior diplomats from several Balkan countries - many with troubled relations stemming from wars in the 1990s - met Friday in the Albanian capital of Tirana to try and advance each others' bids to join the European Union.
The meeting took place ahead of a landmark visit to Tirana next week of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, the first to Albania by a Serbian prime minister. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that visit would boost regional stability, AP reported.
"Last year's visit from (Albanian) Prime Minister Edi Rama to Belgrade was very fruitful. The visit of Prime Minister Vucic will be of importance for both countries and for Balkan stability," he said.
Friday's meeting brought together representatives of countries that have long had troubled relations in the volatile region: Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.
Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati said the political crisis and ethnic tensions in neighboring Macedonia could undermine other Balkan nations' bids for accession to the 28-nation EU, the world's largest trading bloc.
"One country's security is inseparable from our joint security ... It's a threat to the region's EU integration," Bushati said.
Rama, the Albanian prime minister, warned earlier this week that his country could block Macedonia's bid to join NATO unless it improves its record on respecting the rights of the country's sizeable ethnic Albanian minority.
The talks are part of gatherings organized for Albania's presidency of the South-East European Cooperation Process, a regional grouping of 13 Balkan nations set up to promote cooperation. The group's presidents and prime ministers are to meet in Tirana next week. ba/19:35
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Edi Rama visits Pristina
Pristina, 23 May 2015 (MIA) - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is to visit Pristina on Saturday to unveil the monument of Ismail Qemali that will symbolize his role for independence of the Albanians and for “development of Albanian people,” Pristina media report.
Pristina municipality announced that monument will be erected in cooperation with Valona municipality.
Pristina mayor Spend Ahmeti and delegation of intellectuals from Valona city agreed on Nov. 2014 regarding the details for the project for erection of the monument of the first prime minister of independent Albania Ismail Qemali in Pristina and Hasan Pristina in Valona. sk/11:33
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Turkish Ambassador: Launch of the Turkish Stream worth waiting for after 2017
Moscow, 23 May 2015 (MIA) - The Turkish Ambassador to Moscow, Umit Yardym, said that the launch of the gas pipeline Turkish Stream is likely to be expected after 2017.
He stressed that Turkey and Russia "have not yet reached the first stage of the project." "Maybe today it would be improper to state the dates for building the pipeline, whether in 2016 or 2017,’’ Interfax quotes Yardim as saying.
"In my opinion, if we are able to realize this project, it will be a great victory for both Turkey and Russia. Contacts between the two countries on this issue are continuing," the ambassador said.
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