Membership, Albania launches concrete talks with EU

Albania began concrete membership talks with the European Union today, with the organisation in Luxembourg of the second Intergovernmental Conference. It's called “It opens first and closes last. Prime Minister Edi Rama spoke of a day of historic significance for his country. While Hungarian Foreign Minister said there are opportunities to open another group of chapters within the year

Albania received from the European Commission the recommendation for opening talks in 2018, while from the European Council in March 2020. It took two more years to hold Albania and the European Union, the first intergovernmental conference. Just today, after two more years, the country has actually entered the membership process, with the start of talks on the first groups.

Following the meeting between the parties, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijártó, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said “The moments we have experienced during this last hour and a half have been historic, certainly given the fact that we have opened the first chapter group with Albania, which means, by speaking substantially, membership talks have started to ensure that Albania becomes an EU member as soon as possible.”

Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Warhely was on the same line. While talking about “an Important Decision“, he said “The way for essential talks has already been cleared up, meaning that we will already negotiate the conditions in which Albania will be a member of the European Union.”

Prime Minister Edi Rama viewed today as a moment “in historical significance”For Albania, but also for the EU, which, according to him, woke up following Russian aggression in Ukraine.

“So the opening of the core chapter group today with the 5 main chapters plus the three criteria constitutes a great achievement and I believe in both sides, both for Albania and the EU, and marks a historical cornerstone in the common journey towards comprehensive European reunification”.

The first group chapters, known as “Themlore”, are the most important in the entire negotiation process. They open up at the beginning, and they're the last ones to close, as they touch weighted them from the judiciary and the fundamental rights, to Justice and Security, to public procurement, statistics and financial control.

Prime Minister Edi Rama committed himself to meeting without delay the obligations stemming from the talks, while according to him the objective is for the country to join within the next 6 years.

With strong criticism of some member states that, as they do, as they do “speak in public and otherwise in closed halls”, Foreign Minister Szijártó indicated he hopes that “Within the mandate of the Hungarian presidency, another group of chapters with Albania, which has to do with foreign relations, and it is clear that, virtually, pragmatic to see this issue Albania is ready“. / VOA