Brussels, 27/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle announced on 26 November that Albania is close to candidate status but not to the opening of negotiations. Speaking of Tirana's “significant progress”, Füle said in an address to the Western Balkan Civil Society Forum that while “candidate status is within reach”, the Commission does not propose the “opening of accession negotiations just yet”.
In the same address, Füle said that the pace of reforms in Serbia “needs to be reinvigorated”. “An action plan to follow up on shortcomings in reforms is expected to be adopted in December”, he said.
Füle recalled that the Commission believes “strongly” that the opening of negotiations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) will “keep the pace of the reforms”. “The country is well prepared but negotiations are needed for the European Union to engage more deeply on issues such as the rule of law and the fight against organised crime. Moving to the next stage will also help to lock reforms into a dynamic process and strengthen inter-ethnic relations.” “We need to show that the European perspective for the country is real”, he said.
For Montenegro, Füle said that the “screening” of the chapters must be completed by summer 2013, “with the possible opening of some chapters”.
Kosovo is “largely ready to open negotiations” for a stabilisation and association agreement. “We will propose negotiating directives once Kosovo has addressed a number of short-term priorities” in certain key areas, he added. (CG/transl.fl)