Speaker of Bulgarian Parliament Natalia Kiselova Meets with Albanian Counterpart Elisa Spiropali

The Speaker of the Bulgaria's Parliament, Natalia Kiselova, on July 10 met with the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Elisa Spiropali, who is currently visiting Bulgaria.

The focus of the meeting was the integration of the Western Balkans and the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the areas of economy, transport, tourism, and security.

Natalia Kiselova - Speaker of Bulgaria's Parliament:

“Today marks the first official visit by a speaker of a national parliament during the term of the 51st National Assembly. This is a symbolic moment for Bulgaria. The visit of the Albanian Parliamentary Speaker underscores the importance we place on the integration of the Western Balkans and Bulgaria’s commitment to supporting every country aspiring to EU membership. Albania is a leader in European integration — it has opened 24 out of 31 negotiation chapters and aims to open all of them by the end of the year. This reflects our understanding that each candidate country must demonstrate its own achievements in meeting the Copenhagen criteria.”

Spiropali’s visit comes just one day after the release of the EU progress report on North Macedonia, serving as a signal of Bulgaria’s continued engagement with all Western Balkan states.

photo by BTA

Elisa Spiropali – Speaker of the Albanian Parliament:

“Dear Natalia, we are grateful for your invitation, which comes just a few weeks after your own visit to Tirana. We hope to maintain this pace in our relations. I understand that my visit is the first by a parliamentary speaker, which is a great honor for the Albanian Parliament. Our bilateral relations have always been friendly, and I hope they will remain so, not only on a bilateral level but also within NATO and other international formats.

We understand Bulgaria’s position that each country should move toward EU membership based on its own merits and by meeting the necessary criteria. We hope to close all negotiation chapters by 2027. Albania is strongly committed to regional security, having already signed bilateral agreements with Croatia and Kosovo, and we hope Bulgaria will also join these efforts as a guarantor of regional stability.

We have made efforts to maintain good relations with our neighbours. We rely on our bilateral relations and hope to further deepen them in the future. It would be valuable to translate the excellent high-level political contacts into stronger cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, and tourism.”