A Letter From The Consulate
No. 95.
Gentofte/Copenhagen, Monday March 12, 2018 |
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Dear reader,
Welcome to this edition no. 95 of our newsletter. It is expected that this summer will see a major boost in Albanian tourism. 2017 saw an increase and no doubt 2018 and 2019 will be even better. And Albania is preparing to tackle the "problem". Very soon the work on the second commercial Airport will start north of Vlora. Its the old military airport that will be transformed into a modern airport.
The EU commission with god reason is focussing on the Western Balkans. Soon we will have the recommendations by the Commission on the start of accession talks with e.g. Albania.
This is no doubt, expected, wanted, needed and in the interest of both parties. So lets move...
Its almost springtime and summer is closing in.
For those of you who almost cannot wait for the summer to start a nice summer song....
The second airport coming soon
The old military airport north of Vlora will soon be transformed into a modern airport welcoming the growing number of tourists visiting Albania.
Juncker on the Balkans
Following his visit to the Western Balkans last week, European Commission (EC) President Juncker met on March 1. in Sofia with the leaders of Albania, Montenegro, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the presence of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, whose country holds the European Union (EU) Presidency in the first half of 2018. Juncker spoke to them about a credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans. “The Leaders’ meeting in Sofia confirmed our joint priorities: forging a credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans on the basis of reforms, values and economic cooperation,” Juncker said. “I will be returning to Brussels with the conviction, which I already have in fact, that the place of the Western Balkans is at the heart of the EU.” Echoing earlier comments, Juncker said that more importance needs to be paid to the substance of the Western Balkans countries’ accession process than to the process’s calendar. According to him, the candidate countries must root out corruption and organized crime and end all bilateral territorial conflicts before they can accede to the EU.
Ramas comments:
For Prime Minister Edi Rama, the EU trio (the one made up of EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, and EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn) that plays a key role in Albania’s EU accession process has a very positive view of Albania, in particular in regards to its progress and readiness to launch membership talks. Rama also said that the government expects a positive recommendation from the EC on the membership talks and also positive replies from the EU member states, even though some persuading work is needed with each and every one of them.
INVEST IN ALBANIA - Real estate.
Read about the real estate situation in Albania.
The Swiss 2018 - 2021 Co-operation Strategy
Swiss Ambassador to Albania Christoph Graf announced on March 5 that the financial package in support of the implementation of the 2018-2021 Swiss Co-operation Strategy will amount to more than 100 million Swiss Francs (ca. €86mln), 20 per cent higher than the sum awarded for previous period. The Ambassador described this as a sign of the successful bilateral co-operation to date. The Ambassador said an important goal of the Swiss Co-operation strategy was to support Albania in fulfilling the requirements for its European Union (EU) accession path, among which progress in democratic governance, economic development with a more attractive business climate and labor market, etc.
Global Passport ranking
Here is the result of the Henley 2018 passport index. You will find Denmark as no. 3 just behind Germany while Albania ranks no. 54.
That´s all for now,
sincerely,
Hans-Georg Nielsen
Albanian Honorary Consul
PS. This newsletter is mainly sent to relevant Danish and Albanian authorities, to Danes who have shown interest in Albania, to Albanians living in Denmark and to the friends and contacts of the consulate.
Please visit our newsletter archive to read past issues of the Newsletter.
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