Albania and EU end membership talks

Albania and the European Union today end their latest round of talks on the country’s efforts to join the EU and its preparations for 2005 parliamentary elections, the Ministry of European Integration said.

The eighth round of talks on a so-called Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which Albania and the EU are negotiating as a first step toward eventual membership in the bloc, focused yesterday on the agriculture and fishery sectors, spokesman Edmond Harizaj said.