{"id":84501,"date":"2026-05-12T17:32:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T15:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=84501"},"modified":"2026-05-12T18:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:47:52","slug":"hoxha-at-the-friends-of-the-western-balkans-meeting-eu-integration-is-a-necessity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/hoxha-at-the-friends-of-the-western-balkans-meeting-eu-integration-is-a-necessity\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoxha at the \u201cFriends of the Western Balkans\u201d Meeting: EU Integration Is a Necessity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"89\" data-end=\"316\">While participating in the \u201cFriends of the Western Balkans\u201d Group meeting in Bratislava, Minister Ferit Hoxha met with Italy\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"318\" data-end=\"458\">During the meeting, Hoxha particularly praised Italy\u2019s consistent role as one of the strongest supporters of Albania\u2019s European perspective.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"460\" data-end=\"567\">The Minister emphasized that the goal remains strengthening cooperation in all areas for a stronger Europe.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"569\" data-end=\"811\">\u201cWe appreciated the high level of bilateral cooperation across a wide range of fields, including high-level political dialogue, defense, energy, security, connectivity, economy, trade, culture, and exchanges between our citizens,\u201d Hoxha said.<\/p>\n<h3 data-section-id=\"1skvyly\" data-start=\"813\" data-end=\"844\">Minister Hoxha\u2019s Statement:<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"846\" data-end=\"1003\">\u201cI was very pleased to hold a first meeting with Italy\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1005\" data-end=\"1194\">We reaffirmed the excellent relations between Albania and Italy, built upon a special friendship between our peoples, deep historical ties, and a continuously growing strategic partnership.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1196\" data-end=\"1425\">We appreciated the high level of bilateral cooperation across a broad range of fields, including high-level political dialogue, defense, energy, security, connectivity, economy, trade, culture, and exchanges between our citizens.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1427\" data-end=\"1640\">We also underlined our strong alignment on key European, regional, and international issues, as well as our shared commitment to peace, security, regional stability, and the European future of the Western Balkans.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1642\" data-end=\"1823\">Italy remains not only a friendly country, a close partner, and a strategic ally, but also one of Albania\u2019s strongest supporters on our path toward membership in the European Union.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1825\" data-end=\"2136\">I expressed Albania\u2019s sincere gratitude for Italy\u2019s continued, unwavering, and concrete support for our EU integration process, particularly appreciating Italy\u2019s consistent role as one of the strongest advocates of Albania\u2019s European perspective, both bilaterally and within the framework of the European Union.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2138\" data-end=\"2294\">Together, we will continue strengthening cooperation in all areas of shared interest, for the benefit of our countries, our citizens, and a stronger Europe.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2296\" data-end=\"2383\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">I also gladly accepted Minister Tajani\u2019s invitation to visit Rome in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While participating in the \u201cFriends of the Western Balkans\u201d Group meeting in Bratislava, Minister Ferit Hoxha met with Italy\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani. During the meeting, Hoxha particularly praised Italy\u2019s consistent role as one of the strongest supporters of Albania\u2019s European perspective. The Minister emphasized that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":84502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,1803],"tags":[243,151],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hoxha at the \u201cFriends of the Western Balkans\u201d Meeting: EU Integration Is a Necessity - Euronews Albania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/hoxha-at-the-friends-of-the-western-balkans-meeting-eu-integration-is-a-necessity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hoxha at the \u201cFriends of the Western Balkans\u201d Meeting: EU Integration Is a Necessity - Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While participating in the \u201cFriends of the Western Balkans\u201d Group meeting in Bratislava, Minister Ferit Hoxha met with Italy\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani. 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