Brussels, 28/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - Although the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) has only been in force since 1 April this year, Albania officially presented its request for EU membership on Tuesday 28 April. As foreseen (EUROPE 9885), Albanian candidature was presented to Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, by Topolánek's Albanian counterpart, Sali Berisha. “The road will be long for Albania and I trust it will lead to success”, said Topolánek during a press conference in Prague. The EU Council must now call on the Commission to give its stance on Albania's candidature with a view to granting it candidate country status. In a press release, the director general for enlargement at the European Commission, Michael Leigh, welcomes the Albanian approach and says: “It is now up to Albania to demonstrate its capacity to move to the next stage of EU integration, in particular by improving the rule of law. The holding of the parliamentary elections in June in a free and fair manner remains a key condition as well”, just like full implementation of the commitments under the SAA. (A.B./transl.jl)