00:00The enlargement reform report from the Commission shows that Albania continues to move forward on the fundamentals,
00:07particularly on justice reform and in the fight against organized crime and corruption.
00:14Next step is meeting the interim benchmark under the fundamentals.
00:19This step will lay the groundwork for beginning the closed negotiation chapters.
00:24The closed negotiation chapters, I encourage Albania to maintain reform momentum and promote inclusive political dialogue.
00:34Enlargement is a priority of the Danish presidency.
00:39Today, we are delivering yet another result.
00:43If Albania continues on this path with the same focus, pace and quality as we see now,
00:51I am sure that membership will be achieved in a very near future.
00:56Albania belongs to the European family.
01:00This process has helped us in a way that otherwise would have been impossible.
01:09Because I may sound pathetic or whatever you want to call it,
01:19but it is like going to school and having to struggle and having to be told that you have to improve
01:31and having to be told that you have to come back again because your exam is not enough and so on and so further.
01:40But at the end, if you don't give up and if you continue to persist, you win.
01:48And what Albania and the Albanians win in this process is something beyond the clusters,
01:59beyond the chapters, beyond the formal accession itself.
02:03they win and we win a country that functions based on institutions,
02:12that function based on rule of law, that function based on all the standards and principles
02:21that make the EU countries so admirable.
02:25So, I would say that, yes, the last year has been amazing because it has been rewarding.
02:34But without the previous years that were not rewarding, although we worked hard,
02:44this year would not have come.
02:46And so, being sceptical is not a bad thing, but should not stop us from working every hour,
03:01every minute to make it happen.
03:03And last but not least, yes, we have a majority like in communist time.
03:10It was the same in the Ottoman Empire, because we are loyal to empires and this is the first empire we want to be with.
03:24So, that's why this majority is different not in numbers, but in the essence.
03:29Because, yes, we have been all in with the Ottomans, with the Soviets, with the Chinese,
03:37but all in by imposition, not by choice.
03:44This one is all in by choice.
03:47And that's why Marie understood that there is no escape from Albania.
03:54That's why everyone is understanding.
03:57Better they get us in because we will not, we will stalk them to the end.
04:02And so, if they want to get rid of us, they have to get us in.
04:08And then, we'll have our normal dimension, which is far smaller than myself.
04:14We'll take care of myself.
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