EU’s enlargement commissioner urges Albania to focus on reforms in membership talks update

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TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The European Union ’s enlargement commissioner on Thursday hailed Albania’s progress in its membership negotiations and as a “champion” of regional cooperation.

Marta Kos, who was in the capital, Tirana, to meet with the country’s leaders and assure them of the bloc’s continued support, said: “The EU is for sure, and it is happening and it is real.”

Albania’s parliament is expected to ratify two documents which would release more than 920 million euros ($1 billion) under the EU’s growth plan. The funding would enable the tiny Western Balkan country “to be ready for joining the EU,” Kos said.

“You are a champion in regional cooperation. And this is also very important,” said Kos, a Slovenian, referring to the once war-torn Western Balkan region after the breakup of former Yugoslavia.

The EU decided in 2020 it would start full membership negotiations with Albania and talks began last October on how the country aligns with the EU’s stance on issues such as the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and tackling corruption.

The Western Balkans countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. They have been frustrated by the slow pace of progress, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022 encouraged Europe’s leaders to push for the six to join the bloc.

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama has said he hopes to complete the negotiating process with the EU by 2027 and for Albania to become a bloc member by 2030.

At a joint news conference with Rama, Kos said: “Now focus needs to be turned to the implementation of the reforms which have been adopted and to accelerate the confirmation of all the other reforms and especially the justice reform … a cornerstone of the EU integration process.”

Albania holds parliamentary elections in May 11, which Kos doesn’t expect to “slow down the European process.”

“The reforms are not because of the European Union. The reforms are because of the transformation process here in Albania,” said Kos, who hailed Albania for its total alignment with the bloc’s security and foreign policy.

The European Parliament will open a regional office in Tirana.

“While the world is changing, the unity of Albania towards the EU remains an important guarantee for peace, freedom and security,” Kos wrote in X, formerly known as Twitter.