The Austrian government has spearheaded an appeal to other European Union member nations to accept Albania as an EU candidate country before the end of June, Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Sebastian Kurz said Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference following the Western Balkans Conference in Vienna, Kurz said the appeal is being made via a letter.
He said he is "quite confident" that the candidacy status would be realized, the Wirtschaftsblatt business newspaper reported.
Kurz was joined at the conference by foreign ministers from several EU members states, with those from Italy, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Bulgaria all signing the letter.
The letter will now be presented to other foreign ministers during European Council meetings in Luxembourg on June 23 and 24.
The Austrian minister said candidacy status would be an "important and necessary signal for Albania and the entire region."
He was joined by both the Greek and Italian Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Evangelos Venizelos and Federica Mogherini, in stressing the importance of EU expansion, for which they said the joining of Western Balkans countries is a key aspect.
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