Italian premier Mario Draghi said during a joint conference with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama that Italy is committed to support Albania in every field as well as in its integration to the European Union.

Draghi emphasized the great relations among the two countries vowing to strengthen ties even further in the near future.

“The Albanian community in Italy is a very large and well-integrated community and there are many Albanian students in our universities. Cooperation with Albania extends in agriculture, tourism, and services. Italy stands near Albania in its accession to the EU and follows closely the rapprochement of its standards to those of the EU as well as the role that the country has in the stability of the Balkans”, said Draghi.

Meanwhile, the head of the Albanian executive underlined that the European Union and the Western Balkans must proceed in the same course.

Rama called to accelerate the procedures for the recognition of the retirement pension of Albanian citizens.