Flag of the European Union has been raised this Wednesday in front of the Prime Minister's building, in the framework of the organization of the first intergovernmental conference for the start of Albania's negotiations for European Union membership.

During the ceremony, which started at 08:30, Prime Minister Rama and EU representatives were present.

A day ago, Albania, together with North Macedonia, officially opened negotiations for accession to the European Union. July 19 was a historic day, as Albania has aimed for almost three decades to reach exactly this stage.

On Tuesday, in his speech, the representative of the EC presented the obligations that Albania has during this long journey towards the European Union. He said that the EU expects Albania to respect the European Union's treaties on human and minority rights. 

Also, he emphasized the necessity for Albania to be a legal state, where human rights are implemented by completing the Law Reform, the reform in the public administration as well as other similar reforms. 

From now on, the EC and Albania will cooperate closely for the fulfillment of the obligations and then it will be passed to the process called "screening", where the EC will verify whether the conditions have been met or not and whether the reforms have been implemented. 

Afterwards, the EC will approve the report that calls for the country's integration into the EU. This is a very long road and will depend on how quickly the conditions are met.