The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, hosted his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in a meeting, with whom he talked mainly about the negotiations with the European Union, but also about other issues.
At the joint press conference, Rutte said that the Netherlands supports the French proposal that will enable the lifting of the blockade for North Macedonia and Albania.
"There was a new moment in the membership process. We support the French proposal to remove the obstacles that are still blocking North Macedonia, and likewise Albania. The latest we know is that the government is taking a positive look at the proposal. Once a compromise is reached, the EU will not leave North Macedonia alone. Once we have a Yes, EC, KiE will be very closely connected with what happens in North Macedonia. It will also be a reward for the work done by Edi Rama's government. Europe is bigger than the EU and we discussed today this French initiative which is not an alternative to membership, but something related to how we in Europe can work together on issues that we need to work on together ", said Rutte.
Among other things, the two prime ministers also talked about the Russian attack on Ukraine.
"The Netherlands and Albania are united in support of Ukraine. I am happy that Albania fully supports the sanctions against Russia".
In another matter that was discussed between Rutte and Rama, there are the trade exchanges between Albania and the Netherlands.
While Prime Minister Rama appreciated the support of the Netherlands and listed some of the most important Dutch investments in our country.
"Thanks to these bilateral relations, we see more of the Netherlands in our country, it is already ranked among the biggest investors in our country. We have Shell and we are hopefully looking forward to some good news early next year, thanks to the intensive exploration that Shell is doing in our country. If it will be like this, then we will have to celebrate not only for Albania, but for the whole region in these difficult times for energy and for new sources".
"At the same time, we expect to see the cooperation between Tirana airport and Skiphol materialize and continue, just as we are looking forward to the development of a new project of the new commercial military port of Albania that has been conceived and designed by a from the Dutch excellencies".
"I am personally very grateful to Mark for his serious and generous efforts to push the Western Balkans more towards Europe. And to further encourage Albania and RMV, while we have done our duties", said Rama.