Global Courant
The President of the National Council of Austria, Wolfgang Sobotka, delivered a speech today in the Parliament of Albania, where he emphasized Austria’s support for Albania.
The senior Austrian official said that Austria will be by Albania’s side on the path to membership in the European Union.
He stated that the EU’s attention in this period of time is diverted from Ukraine, but according to him, countries like Albania that are working to achieve the objectives for EU membership should not be left behind.
Sobotka welcomed the reform in justice and emphasized that the people’s attention is on democracy and not politics, therefore this is the area where more work should be done.
“We were a country occupied by the Nazis and facing that history was quite painful. We must continue to rework that process even after the 90s. We are very clear that the countries of the Western Balkans must be part of the EU. We saw that immediately the member countries entered the heart of Europe and we became aware of their role there. The Austrian parliament and I personally think that we have a very clear role. I am thankful that I am here today and that we inaugurated the workshop of democracy together. Today, in the discussion we had with those children, we saw how interested they are. Democracy lives from the commitment of citizens that the simplest thing is to go to vote, but the most important thing is to keep that vote. The work of democracy plays a very important role. Since January 12 of this year, we go out and visit different cities and show them what our work is. Citizens are increasingly losing faith in the parliament, but not in democracy, and this is where we get stuck. I thank you very much for creating that workshop of democracy, the results of which we will see over the years. 90% of our citizens hold democracy as the best form of state formation. Faith in democracy has not been lost as in politics. We have seen our cooperation in many greenhouses and for Austria the EU membership of the Western Balkans is very important. You have done an important work of justice reform. The right path is the one that leads you to the European Union. Austria will accelerate this. The Berlin summit that will take place in October in Albania is a clear message of the path that Albania has chosen towards the EU. It is clear that the focus of the EU has moved and shifted towards the EU, but this does not mean that we should remove the Balkans from the focus. We will do everything to support you. When it comes to Europe, we all have a common goal. We will support you where we can, we will give our expertise and we are ready to help you in this process. It is a two-way relationship that helps us both forgive. I request the commitment of the Albanian parliamentarians for the conflict in Kosovo, we need the compromise yesterday and the opportunity to deal with this conflict diplomatically. Both countries should be motivated and move more towards dialogue. Open wounds must be healed and appropriate medications must be taken for this. I ask for your contribution in resolving this tension. It is important to have an independent media, and Albania has a little way to do this, but I think you will go a long way, as you have done in the fight against corruption,” said Sobotka.
Global Courantl
