{"id":85283,"date":"2026-06-18T14:46:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=85283"},"modified":"2026-06-18T20:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:47:18","slug":"balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Balla on European Parliament Amendment Calling for Construction Moratorium in Protected Areas: We Will Do Whatever It Takes to Join the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">The head of the Socialist Party parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, said in a statement to the media outside Parliament that the European Parliament\u2019s amendment regarding protected areas is \u201cnothing more and nothing less\u201d than what Prime Minister Edi Rama has already stated: that no construction will be allowed without a proper environmental assessment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Balla stressed that no permits will be issued until the environmental impact assessment process is completed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">\u201cForeign investment is the engine of economic development in every country. Amendment 17 is already being implemented because Prime Minister Rama has stated that an environmental analysis will be carried out to ensure that everything is done according to European Union standards. There is no Vjosa\u2013Narta National Park in Albania. It is guaranteed that tourist developments may take place in Zone 5. In cases such as Zv\u00ebrnec, construction of this type can be carried out anywhere in Europe. No permits will be granted before the environmental assessment process is completed,\u201d Balla said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">He added that even before the amendment was adopted, Rama had made it clear that no construction would take place before a thorough environmental study was conducted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">\u201cBefore this amendment was approved, Prime Minister Rama had already stated that there would be no construction there until an environmental study was completed. However, we are currently in a campaign where the truth is difficult to discern,\u201d Balla said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">He noted that the European Parliament\u2019s resolution clearly states that the relevant chapter of Albania\u2019s accession negotiations cannot be closed without addressing the amendment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe European Parliament\u2019s resolution is very clear: the chapter cannot be closed without this amendment, so we must wait. To join the European Union, we will do everything required. If the EU tells us to be careful about a specific issue, we will come together and address it. That is how this process works,\u201d Balla said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The head of the Socialist Party parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, said in a statement to the media outside Parliament that the European Parliament\u2019s amendment regarding protected areas is \u201cnothing more and nothing less\u201d than what Prime Minister Edi Rama has already stated: that no construction will be allowed without a proper environmental assessment. Balla stressed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":61784,"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>Balla on European Parliament Amendment Calling for Construction Moratorium in Protected Areas: We Will Do Whatever It Takes to Join the EU - 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\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Balla on European Parliament Amendment Calling for Construction Moratorium in Protected Areas: We Will Do Whatever It Takes to Join the EU - Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The head of the Socialist Party parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, said in a statement to the media outside Parliament that the European Parliament\u2019s amendment regarding protected areas is \u201cnothing more and nothing less\u201d than what Prime Minister Edi Rama has already stated: that no construction will be allowed without a proper environmental assessment. Balla stressed [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/euronews.al\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T12:46:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T18:47:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/hgt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"677\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"424\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nen Si\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@euronewsalbania\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@euronewsalbania\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nen Si\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nen Si\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/444d280f35e047949b7f0bc08093608f\"},\"headline\":\"Balla on European Parliament Amendment Calling for Construction Moratorium in Protected Areas: We Will Do Whatever It Takes to Join the EU\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T12:46:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-18T18:47:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/\"},\"wordCount\":334,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/hgt.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"kryesore 1\",\"Kryesoret\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Albania\",\"Latest news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/balla-on-european-parliament-amendment-calling-for-construction-moratorium-in-protected-areas-we-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-join-the-eu\/\",\"name\":\"Balla on European Parliament Amendment Calling for Construction Moratorium in Protected Areas: We Will Do Whatever It Takes to Join the EU - 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