The Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Albania, Ilir Meta, is in Switzerland on an official visit from 17 to 19 March at the invitation of the President of the National Council, Stéphane Rossini.
Ilir Meta has been speaker of the Albanian Parliament since September 2013. The Albanian Parliament, known as the Kuvendi, is a unicameral parliament with 140 members. The most strongly represented parties in Parliament by number of seats are the Socialist Party of Albania, the Democratic Party of Albania and the Socialist Movement for Integration, of which Ilir Meta is a member.
During his visit Mr Meta and his delegation held talks with the President of the National Council, Stéphane Rossini, and the President of the Council of States, Claude Hêche. The delegation also had the opportunity to hold talks with the State Secretary of the FDFA, Yves Rossier, and the Secretary General of the Federal Assembly, Philippe Schwab.
Swiss-Albanian relations
Relations between Switzerland and Albania are good. Switzerland has been very active in Albania since the beginning of the 1990s, Albania being one of the priority countries of Swiss international development cooperation. Mr Meta welcomed Switzerland’s involvement in the peace process in the Balkans, in particular during the war in Kosovo.
In addition, Switzerland and Albania have concluded several bilateral agreements, including an agreement on trade and economic cooperation signed in 1995, an agreement on police cooperation signed in 2005, and an agreement on agriculture in 2009. Furthermore, the free trade agreement between Albania and the EFTA member countries has been in force since 2010.
Trade between Switzerland and Albania nevertheless remains modest. By contrast, there is a lively cultural exchange between the two countries, ranging from sporting events to various artistic events such as the Swiss Culturescapes Festival, which featured the Balkans as its theme in 2013.
Lastly, in the course of the different meetings during the visit both parties stressed the wish to develop inter-parliamentary relations.