On Tuesday, 15 March, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama—supported by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell—called for the opening of negotiations for the accession of his country to the EU.
The dispute between North Macedonia and Bulgaria is preventing negotiations for Skopje and, in turn, for Tirana from being opened.
In Tirana, the prime minister hoped that the French Presidency of the Council of the EU would be able to hold the first Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in June, thus enabling the opening of accession negotiations. “It would be good if that happened”, he said, adding that, as it waited for negotiations to begin, his country was continuing to work “as if the negotiations were open” and that it was “not [going] to waste a second”.
Mr Borrell expressed his belief that Albania had met all the conditions for opening negotiations and hoped that the first IGC would take place “as soon as possible”. In his opinion, while a date has not been set, it is on the horizon. “It is high time to reinvigorate the enlargement process”, added the head of EU diplomacy.
The High Representative praised the speed of the reforms undertaken by Tirana, particularly with regard to the justice system. He called for further reforms in terms of the Rule of law. According to Mr Borrell, “these reforms supporting [the] green economy, supporting [the] digital transformation, will ensure rapid advancement when negotiations are launched”. He moreover praised Albania’s participation in the EU’s CSDP missions. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)