TIRANA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that Spain is ready to support Albania to continue its reforms to improve people's quality of life and integrate into the European Union (EU).

He made the remarks at a joint press conference in Albania's capital Tirana with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama following a meeting.

Albania is the last stop of Sanchez's Western Balkan tour, which took him also to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Sanchez emphasized that Spain and Albania should strengthen ties in the judicial sector as well as in infrastructure, tourism and energy.

On Monday, the two countries signed a bilateral agreement on a joint investigation group to combat international organized crimes.

Sanchez also met Albanian President Bajram Begaj on Monday.

Two weeks ago, the EU started membership negotiations with Albania and its neighboring country North Macedonia with the first intergovernmental conference between the EU and the two countries in Brussels.

Albania signed the stabilization and association agreement with the EU 16 years ago. In June 2014, it received the status of a candidate country for the EU.

The European Council decided to open negotiations for Albania's EU membership in 2020. Enditem

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