The Speaker of the Assembly, Mrs. Lindita Nikolla, met today with the Ambassador of His Majesty, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Mr. Alastair King-Smith.

President Nikolla appreciated the very good bilateral cooperation between Albania and the United Kingdom and underlined the possibilities of expanding this cooperation.

“Cooperation between the Assembly of Albania and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has recently intensified, through friendship groups and parliamentary committees, and promotes and supports bilateral relations. Both countries are cooperating to discourage migratory flows, the fight against trafficking that uses migratory channels and the fight against corruption and organized crime,” said Mrs. Nicholas.

Ambassador Alastair King-Smith thanked President Nikolla for the will to increase bilateral and parliamentary cooperation and pointed out that the same willingness for cooperation is found by the Government of the United Kingdom. The Government of the United Kingdom will continue the cooperation with the Government of Albania, advancing the programs that are being implemented as well as implementing new programs, with a focus on the northern areas of the country.

President Nikolla and Ambassador King-Smith also discussed the coordination of the fight against trafficking, corruption and organized crime, the priorities of the work calendar of the Assembly, the preparations for the local elections on May 14, etc.

The cooperation between the Assembly and the Embassy of the United Kingdom will be concreted with the soon start of the project “Increasing the accountability of the government through a more responsible parliament”, as part of the Freedom and Sustainability Program 2022-2025.

The project will help improve the legislative process and increase the capacities of the Assembly and cooperation with the media and civil society to oversee policy-making and the implementation of government programs. “Transparency and accountability are my priorities as Speaker of the Assembly. The accountability of the Government to the Assembly helps the accountability of the Assembly to the citizens,” underlined the Speaker Nikola.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Mrs. Lindita Nikolla invited the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, for an official visit to the Parliament of Albania.