Earlier today, Pusić met with her host, Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, and President Bujar Nishani. The cooperation between Croatia and Albania, as well as regional and Euro-integration cooperation were the main topics of Pusić’s talks with Nishani, whom Pusić thanked for attending the inauguration of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović.
Pusić said that both countries shared the same interest – the region’s stability. "Relations between Albania and Croatia are a priority, not just for the sake of traditionally good relations and history, but also today when we should design some concrete projects and topics on which we will work together," Nishani said, adding that "Albania is committed to the partnership and regional cooperation, and we believe that the European path is the right path for all countries in this region. We can profit from your experience on that path."
Stages in the process of the European integration of Albania, which was granted EU membership candidate status in June 2014, was one of the topics discussed with Prime Minister Rama, who stressed the importance of better and more frequent communication with Croatia. Rama said that Croatia best understands the challenges faced by Albania on its EU path.
Pusić underlined the importance of the negotiating process, reforms, as well as seminars and conferences for state officials like those organized by the Centre of Excellence. Seminars have already been held on SAA implementation, accession negotiations, MEI coordination with other ministries and drafting of the national accession plan, as well as consultations on self-assessing the progress, setting up the negotiations structure, monitoring the drafting of the national accession plan etc.
Pusić and Rama also talked about the construction of an Adriatic-Ionian Motorway and an Adriatic-Ionian gas pipeline as an extension of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.