(15 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tirana, Albania – 15 May 2025
1. Tilt down from Albanian flag on the EPC summit venue to people walking
2. Various of decorations on the Tirana Opera house, the venue for the EPC summit
3. Worker cutting wooden beam
4. Various of journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lutfi Dervishi, independent political analyst:
"Albania has been waiting 35 years on the doorstep of Europe, and now it has a chance for a couple of days to welcome Europe here. If you could not show a success story in the Balkans, I don’t know where it can be.”
6. Tilt up to decorative flags
7. Various of a decorations reading "Albania is Europe”
8. Wide of street
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Lutfi Dervishi, independent political analyst:
"Regarding the prospect of the Balkan countries to join the EU, I think it’s more geopolitical considerations rather than the old way of measuring the success of the country. But it’s clear that Albania is a forefront country in the line to join the EU, and hopefully that will be the case by the end of the decade.”
10. Man with Albania and EU flags on bicycle and man in national dress
11. Various of a man reading news
12. Wide of people walking
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Lutfi Dervishi, independent political analyst:
"In the best-case scenario, EPC, the European Political Community, has a chance and an opportunity in Tirana to go beyond the shades of the EU itself and to show that it can produce more than a talking shop. So it can bring something which is worth, not in terms only of the news, but it’s worth for the people of the continent, something is achieved. And we have to bear in mind it’s not a democratic club coming here; it’s a mixed plate.”
14. Various of journalists
15. Mid of police
16. Wide of cordon around venue
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Lutfi Dervishi, independent political analyst: "Zelenskyy’s presence and, as we call, the dedicated lane for Ukraine to join the EU, helps the Balkans. Because it raised the question marks in Brussels. If Ukraine has a dedicated lane, what about the Balkans, which is not the backyard of the EU, but it’s a courtyard.”
18. Various of police vehicles
19. Tilt down from a mosaic to police talking to people
STORYLINE:
The leaders of 47 European countries and organizations will gather on Friday for a one-day summit in the Albanian capital Tirana to discuss security and defense challenges across the continent, with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fourth year.
The European Political Community summit, or EPC, held under the banner: "New Europe in a new world: unity – cooperation – joint action,” will also address ways to improve the continent’s competitiveness and tackle unauthorized migration.
Officially, the leaders will hold a series of thematic meetings.
Securing Europe and strengthening democratic resilience, boosting European competitiveness and security through innovation and resilience, and an open Europe with secure borders: addressing mobility challenges and fostering youth empowerment are the main topics.
But the EPC is most useful as a place for leaders to meet bilaterally, or in small groups, to weigh in on major European issues.
“Albania has been waiting 35 years on the doorstep of Europe, and now it has a chance for a couple of days to welcome Europe here,” Lutfi Dervishi, an independent political analyst, told the Associated Press.
Among the leaders expected in Tirana on Friday is the Ukrainian president.
But critics claimed it was an attempt by them to put the brakes on European Union enlargement.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/b10a08fb7c99483d889b4c4fe4ad2b57
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in May 20, 2025, 3:06 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
