On 9 March 2015 , European Movement Albania in partnership with Slovak Foreign Policy Association, and with the support of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of European Integration in Albania organized the Conference: “National Convention on the EU Integration”. The event hosted distinguished speakers: H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, and H.E. Mr. Ditmir Bushati, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania. Moreover, it gathered representatives from ministries, analysts, media, academia, civil society, etc which were involved in an Open Debate on the role of the Convention in Albanian’s road toward European Integration.The aim of the activity was to present the unique model of the National Convention on EU Integration, developed by the Slovak Foreign Policy Association between 2003 –2007 and extended through the support of Slovakia´s bilateral development assistance (Slovak Aid) in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova.

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The Conference was opened by the welcoming speech of Minister of Foreign Affairs in Albania, H.E. Mr. Ditmir Bushati, who underlined the fact the “Convention for European Integration”, is an initiative in the framework of good partnership between Albania and Slovakia and a stimulation for further cooperation between the two countries. On the other hand, the importance of the Convention appears also in the fact that creates direct contact and exchange of views, as well as expertise and experience from other countries where it is applied, among them: Slovakia, Montenegro and Serbia. The collaboration of NGOs is crucial for Albanian Integration, especially in the phase when Albania’s next step is the opening of negotiations. According to him, the ongoing negotiations on the country’s membership in the European Union, serves as a golden opportunity for all political and social actors: government, the opposition, civil society; to detect all the problems and present solutions.
H.E.Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, during his speech appreciated the current situation of Albania which is in a very positive momentum regarding of European integration. Therefore, Albania deserves to take not only political support but also a lot of suggestions and experiences from neighboring countries. According to him, on the other hand, public debate should be institutionalized by all stakeholders/actors: government, political parties, NGOs and business representatives, enhancing collaboration related to Albania’s integration, where most of recommendations are of a legal nature.

In the second part of the Conference was held a Panel Discussion, moderated by Executive Director of EMA Mr. Gledis Gjipali. Members of the panel were: Deputy Minister of European Integration Mr.Gentian Elezi, Mr. Thomas Strazay, Policy Analyst in Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), and Mr. Momcilo Radulović, President of the European Movement in Montenegro.

The role of the Ministry of European Integration will be coordinating and contributing to the standardization of consultation. Mr. Elezi,Deputy Minister of European Integration announced the approval of the establishment of the National Integration Council, which will function as an advisory and consultation body with government bodies, academics and representatives of civil society. “The importance of the Convention lies in the opinions absorvation and identification of actors that can contribute to our path towards the EU.’’-underlined Mr. Elezi.

Further, Mr. Gjipali Executive Director of EMA explained that are two types of cooperation models. First there is an open model involving all citizens and second is the closed model, which is limited by their expert analysis. “We intend to implement a mixed model. We do not have the luxury of abundant expertise, so we will try to bring experts from wherever that may be found “, – said Mr. Gjipali. Further, he praised the initiative for transparency that will offer to the most uninformed part of society, in terms of costs and opportunities that will come in the future. And this transparency will not be only in Tirana, but also in other cities of Albania, to promote debate and attract the interest of all.”
A number of experts from Slovakia will assist four working groups in Albania, because Slovakia has passed this process about 10-years ago. “Our experts will not only bring the experience of the past, but now and the expertise of being on the other side of the negotiations. They now work in EU institutions and thus will help through lobbying and improving the image of Albania”, – concluded his speech Mr. Strazay,Policy Analyst in Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA).

After speaking about the inclusive cooperation wich was achieved in Montenegro in implementing the Convention since 2012, Mr. Momcilo Radulović, President of the European Movement in Montenegro said that we all need to continously improve and in the end we achieve what we worked for. He argued the slowing down of the process with the need to change the mentality and smooth political conflicts to undertake constitutional changes. We have a lot of good and bad examples, but he underlined the importance of maintaining the balance, despite the slow down and assessment of the perception that everyone can contribute.

The panel of the conference was followed with interest by participants, which asked questions and brought new insights related to the presented topics.