TIRANA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama hailed on Tuesday the positive recommendation made earlier in the day by the European Commission (EC) for the opening of negotiations for his country's European Union (EU) membership.

Albania just opened a new chapter in its history, Rama said, noting that Albania, which became an official EU candidate country in 2014, still has a lot of challenges ahead.

"Albania has now a new status in the international arena and finally came out from another crossroad between the past and the future," Rama said, adding that the recommendation was a recognition of Albania's merits.

"Albania has shown devotion and patience. Albanians deserve to have all their efforts, sacrifices and confidence in the common values and vision of the Union recognized," said Romana Vlahutin, ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Albania.

Albanian President Ilir Meta called the EC's recommendation an encouraging, long-awaited and strategic act for the country's European future.

Meta praised the EC as a precious and unsparing friend of the candidate countries and expressed the confidence that the current moment would make Albania a more hopeful European country.

Albanian Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati said on social media that the reforms undertaken in Albania are yielding fruits. "This is a day to roll up the sleeves and keep up with the hard work," he said.

While presenting in Brussels the EC Progress Report for the Western Balkans countries, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini noted that the EC appreciates the bloc's enlargement policy.

"Enlargement increases stability and security. The process is built on fair and rigorous conditionality, and each country is assessed for its reforms on the basis of merit," said Mogherini.

Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn emphasized that Albania has made significant progress in fulfilling five priorities and judicial reform in particular, which has achieved tangible results in the process of re-evaluating judges and prosecutors.

"It is about maintaining and deepening the current reforms and momentum when it comes to Albania in key fields, such as public administration reform, fight against organized crime and corruption, judicial reform and protection of minorities," he said.

In November 2016, Albania received the EU recommendation to open EU accession negotiations conditioned primarily upon the implementation of a judicial reform package passed earlier the same year.