Commission chief tells Albania: your future is in the EU

TIRANA - Albania belongs in the European Union in the future and it is up to the European Union to start membership talks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday during a trip to the region.

"Albania's future is in the European Union," she said after she visited a school with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

"Albania has clearly delivered all that we have been asking for ... it is us who have to deliver," von der Leyen said on the EU membership starts that are stalled. "I really am determined to make it happen," saying that could be by year-end.