Poland assumes European Union presidency

As far as enlargement is concerned, the Polish presidency is expected to support Albania, which in only two months has been able to hold two intergovernmental conferences, first in October, core chapters opened, including the Judiciary and Foundation Rights, Justice, Procurement, Statistics, Security and Financial Control, and in December external relations.

This was confirmed by Poland's foreign minister, who visited Tirana in December, where he praised our country for its achieved progress and guaranteed that Poland will advance Albania's aspirations for membership in the European family.

Albania's journey towards the European Union, which agreed in March 2020, has resulted in success but not with few challenges and difficulties on the part of the union, which for many years linked Tirana's fate with Skopje, and just two months ago, Albania separated from Northern Macedonia. While the Albanian government's own ambition is that within 2027 all the chapters are closed so that in 2023, our country is a full-fledged member of the European Union.

Meanwhile, we cannot say the same thing about Kosovo, which is the only country in the Balkans that does not have candidate status for EU membership. It remains to be seen what Poland's position will be, even though official Brussels has had a clear stance regarding Pristina's foreign policies under the direction of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, declaring its actions are not co-ordinated with those of the European Union. On the other hand, there are also certain conditions set for Serbia, so that Belgrade can advance integration.

Meanwhile, security remains the priority of the Polish presidency. The European Union country, most affected by the Russia-Ukrainian and neighbouring Belarus, will encourage other member states to increase defence spending.

The Polish presidency ends on July 1st 2025th and beyond, the staff will pass to Denmark.