Minister Predoiu and the Albanian Ambassador discussed the fight against organised crime and drug trafficking

The interest for the intensification of police cooperation, of the data and information exchange with a view to combating organized crime, with focus on drugs traffic were the issues approached by the minister of internal affairs, Catalin Predoiu in the recent meeting with the ambassador of the Republic of Albania to Bucharest, Enkeleda Merkuri.According to a press release of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent on Sunday, the two officials presented the similar opinions of the two countries, on themes of interest at regional and European level, going back to historic, traditional connections, which create a solid background for development in the future.‘The Romanian official emphasized the very good relations existing between the two ministries, at political and technical level, the active contacts on different subjects of common interest, expressing the interest for the intensification of police cooperation with focus on drug traffic. He showed that the Romanian-Albanian relations in the domain of internal affairs registered a growing dynamics over the latest period, the two ministers having an official meeting during the high level sector of the UN Commission regarding Drugs (CND), organized between 14 and 15 March 2024 in Vienne’ the quoted press release shows.The minister of Interior affairs stresses that the main priority is to fight drug trafficking, with hundreds of operations launched to disrupt networks.   Predoiu stressed that the subject, being a transnational phenomenon, is also extremely sensitive at EU level, being addressed in different formats, with the Belgian Presidency recently launching the Ports Alliance, an initiative that seeks to intensify the fight against drug trafficking.   The Ambassador of the Republic of Albania in Bucharest thanked for the exemplary cooperation between the two ministries, recalling that Albania is in the process of negotiating EU accession and asked for Romania's support in meeting the technical criteria and aligning its legislation with the acquis communautaire.   She expressed her appreciation for the support of our country for Albania’s  European road and the permanent interest in the promotion of stability and development in the Western Balkans’ development and also reminded that Romania is an important partner in the region.Minister Predoiu gave assurances that our country will continue to support Albania’s efforts through the transfer of expertise, know-how, support for the training of human resources and the development of joint projects under the EU umbrella.He added that another domain where Albania might be part of the solution at European level is combating illegal migration, a topic which appears in a recurrent manner on the European agenda.Ambassador Enkeleda Merkuri said that Albania has the experience of very good cooperation with Italy, France, the Netherlands in this domain and expressed the desire to intensify cooperation with Romania at this level.Deputy Prime Minister Predoiu recalled the need to finalize the restitution of the Iorga House in Saranda to the Romanian state and underlined the desire of the Romanian authorities to settle, amicably, this matter of interest for our country.