European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos commented for the first time on the protests in Albania during the 9th Albania-EU intergovernmental conference in Brussels, stressing that they do not endanger the country's European integration process.
"We do not see Albania's journey towards the EU as endangered, and today is proof, as we have closed three chapters," said Kos.
Asked about the protests, the commissioner stressed that environmental protection is part of the fundamental criteria of the European Union and recalled that Brussels had agreed with the Albanian authorities, even before the protests began, that the amendments to the 2024 law and the law on strategic investments would be repealed this year.
“I would encourage them to do this as soon as possible,” she stated.
Kos added that protests are part of democracy, but the way states react to them also matters.
"Protests are democratic, but the way countries handle them also matters. Albania needs to harmonize its legislation," the European Commissioner concluded.
