TIRANA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama sent a letter to his French counterpart Edouard Philippe asking for France's support for Albania's European Union (EU) accession, local Scan TV reported Monday.
Rama's letter to Philippe, as well as other prime ministers of EU member states, comes at a time when Albania expects the EU to open negotiations talks in early 2018.
In the letter to the French prime minister, Rama made a summary of the reforms carried out by his government, as well as the steps Albania has taken to fulfill and meet the five key priorities set by the European Commission as a condition for opening of accession talks.
According to Rama, integration is what all Albanian citizens, regardless of their political beliefs, have looked forward to for the better part of 20 years.
He also assured that the Albanian government remained determined to carry on with the implementation of reforms, as well as the fight against organized crime and drugs trafficking.
Furthermore, Rama said Albania still had much to do and improve, meanwhile praising EU's technical and economic support to make things better here.
Rama closed his letter, dated Nov. 16, saying he hoped France would support Albania while moving towards the next phase of its development which would lead the country towards full accession and membership in the European family.
Two days ago, EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a post on social networks that 2018 could be a crucial year for the whole region on its path towards the EU.
