After the Summit of Paris which was held with the initiative of French President Nicholas Sarkozy with the aim of building up Mediterranean cooperation, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly was convened in Jordan two days ago. For the first time, Albania was invited to participate in this Assembly as an observer.

As an institution of the Barcelona Process, the Assembly currently is headed by Hans Gert Pottering, the President of European Parliament, and composed of 260 European members. Cooperation in different areas such as economy, politics, energy, transport, infrastructure etc. among the members and maintaining peace and stabilization in the region as well in other parts of the world are considerations of the Assembly.

Albania was represented by Josefina Topalli, the President of Albanian Parliament. Pottering expressed his pleasure about the participation of Albania. Topalli evaluated this participation as a very important progress in maintaining relations with the partners. She also emphasized that the participation in Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly is one of the steps in the Albania’s integration to international institution such as NATO and EU. Besides, Topalli added that due to the progress which Albania has made recently, the international society has begun to consider it as a crucial partner. Albania is supposed to be the member of the Euro Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly the next year.

The first official meeting between Albania and Jordan Josefina Topalli, the President of Albanian Parliament, had a meeting with Prime Ministër of Jordan, Nader Al Dhahabi. This meeting was recorded as the first official meeting between Albania and Jordan. Because, there has not been any agreement, any diplomatic visits, and any economic relations between two countries since Hashemite Kingdom. Both Topalli and Al-Dhahabi expressed their pleasure for this meeting which will open doors for cooperation.
The Albanian leader informed the Jordan leader about the situation in Albania and invited Jordan businessmen to invest in Albania where they can find favorable conditions for business.

Josefina Topalli also had a meeting with the President of Jordan Parliament, Abdel Hadi who welcomed the Albanian participation in Euro Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. They talked about cooperation areas in which they can work together. Also, Topalli invited the President of Jordan Parliament in Albania.

Elona Coka(JTW)
14 October 2008, Tuesday

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