Varhelyi made the statement during a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Varhelyi paid a short visit to Albania to present the 2020 Report on Albania and the EU Economic and Investment Plan.
According to the EU, the plan sets out a substantial investment package, mobilizing up to nine billion euros (10.6 billion U.S. dollars) of funding for projects in the areas of transport, energy, green and digital transition, to create growth and jobs in the Western Balkans.
At the press conference, Rama vowed that Albania will continue to fulfill all the standards set by the EU.
"The cooperation with the European Commission has yielded particular results... We have advanced what we must fulfill -- justice reform, fighting corruption, improving public administration. (It's) not because of Brussels or Paris is asking us, but it is an obligation to our children," Rama told reporters.
Varhelyi said enlargement is among the EU's priorities, which will be accompanied by new investments for all Western Balkan countries.
"We will continue our work in the Western Balkans and we have the whole enlargement part. The plan in itself calls for an acceleration of what the countries are doing in order to catch up with the EU," Varhelyi told reporters.
"We are talking about a major project that will focus on those areas of the economy that bring jobs, energy infrastructure, digitalization, transport and human capital," he added.
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