German Ambassador to Albania Peter Zingraf has urged Albanian institutions to make the Constitutional and High Court functional before the first conference on EU accession talks.
In a statement posted on the embassy’s Facebook account, Ambassador Zingraf applauded the recent agreement between the majority and opposition in the electoral reform – “an encouraging incentive for Albania to continue on its way towards the European Union”
However, he recalled the 15 conditions set by the EU for Albania’s progress in integration, and stated that Germany is particularly interested in seeing the two highest courts become functional.
“The country also needs a constructive spirit and sense of responsibility to meet the other conditions that lie ahead of the next stages in the context of the EU accession negotiations. I am thinking in particular of the ability of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court to operate – these remain important elements from a German perspective, which are of central importance for the Albanian judiciary in particular and must be fulfilled before the first accession conference,” Ambassador Zingraf stated.
In March, EU leaders endorsed the opening of EU accession negotiation with Albania and North Macedonia. However, they put a list of conditions for Albania to meet before sitting at the negotiations table, including the setting-up of functional Constitutional and High Courts.
