Monday, June 01, 2015

The third national course of ASPS on “Albania and the trends of European integration” was held in Durres from 29-31 May 2015. The course objective was to provide the participants with substantial knowledge on the EU and the European integration process, in order to help them better understand Albania’s challenges in its path towards the EU. The key speakers were lecturers and experts as the chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Integration, Ms. Majlinda Bregu; the  deputy Minister of Integration, Mr. Gentian Elezi ; the president of the EUT, Mr . Adrian Civici;  the founder of "Vetevendosja" movement in Kosovo, Mr. Albin Kurti, as well as the director of the School of Political Studies in Istanbul, Mr. Hakan Altinay. Ms. Bregu and Mr. Elezi addressed on their modules the so far Albania's path towards the EU and the pre-accession mechanism. The discussion offered more details regarding the next phases of the process, especially on the conditions to open negotiations with the European Union. Mr. Albin Kurti provided during his intervention a different prospect of the Albanian and Kosovo European integration path. The participants had the opportunity to discuss with Mr. Kurti regarding his vision, which is sometime controversial to the political debates in our countries. A special interest created the personal life story of Mr. Kurti, his commitment as an active citizen and later involvement in the political life of Kosovo. Mr. Civici, the president of the European University of Tirana, addressed the need for a new model of economic development that our country should follows in order to have a competitive economy with the economies of other countries in the union. The last session of the course, was dedicated to the experience of Turkey in its path towards the EU, but also recent developments in Turkish politics and society. Mr. Hakan Altinay, senior fellow at “Brookings Institution”, addressed the topic of the interdependence of civilizations in a European and global reality. Mr.Hakan was also invited in its function of Director of Istanbul School of Political Studies, within the framework of cooperation between the political schools of the Council of Europe.