Albanian president appeals to political parties for dialogue

TIRANA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Albanian President Ilir Meta appealed on Monday to the ruling Socialist Party and the opposition parties for setting aside differences and engaging in Dialogue following the current Political situation.

Meta told a press conference that Albania's Political forces should hold Dialogue to solve the Political situation in order to avoid the crisis to deepen.

According to Meta, Albanian Political class must assume responsibility and cannot hide behind any international representatives, as has happened insofar.

"All issues must be resolved through Dialogue, in a transparent way," he added.

Meta also said that it is his obligation as the president to appeal once again for reflection, "because we have to safeguard the interest of the country and of the citizens," he told the reporters.

For a month now, the country has been going through a Political crisis with the opposition parties holding several anti-government protests involving violence, asking Prime Minister Edi Rama and his cabinet to step down for early elections.

Lawmakers of Albanian opposition have resigned from their posts and refused the calls of the European Union (EU) and international organizations to hold talks with the government and end the Political crisis.

Albania hopes to start talks on accession to EU membership in June this year.