EU, donor conference to help Albania after the earthquake

 Ursula von der Layen and Andrej Plenkovic

 The European Union announced yesterday that will host an international donor conference in Brussels on February 17 in support of the reconstruction efforts Albania is making after the earthquake that struck on November 26.

The decision was announced yesterday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a joint conference with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, whose country now holds the rotating EU presidency.

“The donor conference comes after the terrible earthquake that struck Albania. We want to help Albania rebuild itself," said President Von der Leyen.

She stressed, however, that the coming months would be important for the Western Balkans, where she mentioned also the Zagreb Summit as part of the European Union enlargement process. According to her, a methodology will be developed to further the enlargement process and improve the accession process.

President Von der Leyen expressed optimism about the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, stressing that both countries have met the required criteria, so the EU needs to keep the promises.