Spain and Albania sign bilateral extradition agreement

The visit to Spain on Monday of the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, resulted in the deepening of cooperation in police and judicial matters between the two countries.

According to a press release, during their meeting Pedro Sanchez and Edi Rama "signed a bilateral extradition agreement, which is of particular interest to Spain, insofar as it provides that nationality will not be an obstacle to the extradition of requested people."

"This brings the telephone conversations between the two leaders over the last year to fruition, which have confirmed the good level of cooperation between the two countries and the willingness to relaunch contacts, especially in certain areas such as the police and the judiciary," the Spanish government remarked in the release.

Spain consider that this "mutual understanding" in police and judicial matters "has been very positive over the last decade."

The International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) has recently initiated the implementation of an EU delegated cooperation project on combating organised crime in Albania through financial investigation, and will deploy a Spanish team of police and prosecutors.

Since 2014, Spain has also been leading Europol's Firearms programme, which has contributed to the fight against illicit arms trafficking in the Balkans.

Accession to the EU

The Spanish head of government also conveyed to Prime Minister Rama Spain's support for Albania's accession to the European Union (EU).

"Spain is actively in favour of enlargement," Sanchez told Rama.

"I have consistently defended this view. We need to push for EU membership for the Balkan countries. Europe is their space, just like ours."

In this regard, Sánchez confirmed Spain's determination to strengthen its global presence in the Balkans. "We share common interests and a common future," he emphasized.