Marta Kos: Albania in the EU in 2030 or earlier

Albania could become part of the European Union even before 2030, a year mentioned by Prime Minister Rama as the target of his government.

Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, in a conversation at Atlantic Council, spoke of the road ahead of Western Balkan countries by isolating Montenegro and Albania.

Question: Coming to the Western Balkans in particular, as I said, many of the candidate countries have been in this process for decades. At the same time, we have two leading countries: Montenegro, which hopes to close all its chapters by the end of this year. And then Albania, which has expressed its determination to close negotiations by the end of next year. How do you evaluate this progress? How realistic is the Montenegrin slogan “28 by 28”? So, 28th until 2028. Give us your appreciation.

Marta Kos: You know, usually we don't set dates in the membership process, because that really depends on merit. So it depends on how countries are producing results. But of course, we support ambitious goals. First for Montenegro, it is possible that we close.

So it is possible that Montenegro, with 650,000 inhabitants, will become the 28th member of the European Union.

It is also possible for Albania to become a member by 2030 or even earlier. And then of course, now maybe we'll have a new candidate country. I'm looking forward to it very much.

Question: Let me ask you as the last question, perhaps in this regard, which is part of the reform discussion. Recently we had an opinion written by Serbian President Vucic and Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania, suggesting that their countries could join Schengen and the common market, for example, at the cost of easy membership, so without vetoing. How do you view such proposals and the proposed interim agreement as part of another dynamic membership?

Marta Kos: There is no <x0light” membership. Or you're a member and then you get all the rights. Or you're not a member and you don't get the rights. But of course, I understand this letter from Mr. Vucic and Rama, in the sense that if the EU has problems, you know, to continue with the enlargement process, they would be satisfied with something less. That's their choice. I do not support this because my role is to help those countries become full EU members. The simple rule is this: if a country meets all reforms and criteria, it must become a full member of the European Union. So has our European Treaty. / T CH