Balkan countries at different stages of EU integration

According to them, if the EU Enlargement Strategy is taken as a reference point, it can see a kind of grouping of countries, according to the level of advancement on the road to the European Union.

Taulant Kryeziu, of the Kosovo Institute for European Policy (EPIK), tells Radio Free Europe, that currently, within the Western Balkans, there are two leaders leading in advancing on the road to the EU, Montenegro and Serbia, who have opened negotiations on membership with the European Union and were mentioned 2025 as the possibility of membership. But, according to him, Serbia remains conditioned on Chapter 35, meaning full normalisation of relations with Kosovo. In the second group are Macedonia and Albania, meanwhile, the last are Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

According to him, after the Greek and Northern Macedonia Agreement for the latter's name, a good moment has already been created for Northern Macedonia on its European integration path, but not for Albania as well.

“has a positive moment for Northern Macedonia to open negotiations with the European Union for membership. While, Albania is not at the moment North Macedonia has it. There are problems in Albania. The opposition is not part of Parliament, and political life there is already extremely difficult. Then, problems with organised crime and corruption, concerns that reflected also in the Netherlands Parliament's call to return to the visa regime for Albania. That's kind of a reflection. While Kosovo is still the only country, which has neither applied for candidate status”, Kryeziu stressed.