ZAGREB, October 30, 2019 – Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday received Albanian President Ilir Meta and they talked about the priorities of Croatia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020, including enlargement.
Meta underlined the importance of the Croatian presidency for all of Southeast Europe, while Plenković reiterated that preparations for a Zagreb summit between EU member states and countries in Southeast Europe were among the priorities of the presidency, the government said in a press release.
The European Council has refused to greenlight the beginning of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. Members of the European Parliament and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn called on the Council last week to correct the “historic error” before the Zagreb summit in May.
Plenković and Meta said they were pleased with the friendly and close political relations between Croatia and Albania, and added that it was necessary to intensify economic cooperation and improve transport connectivity.
Meta is on a return visit and on Tuesday met President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković.
After the meeting, Grabar-Kitarović said Croatia would continue to strongly push for Albania’s European integration and that the European Council made a “big mistake” by saying no to opening EU entry talks with Albania and North Macedonia.
More news about relations between Croatia and Albania can be found in the Politics section.
