30/09/2024 (Agence Europe) – Gert Jan Koopman, Director General of the European Commission’s DG for Neighbourhood and Enlargement (NEAR), is optimistic about the candidate countries’ progress towards European integration. “We plan to close as many chapters in the next few months as we have in the last decade”, he told MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. Montenegro, in particular, “should be integrated into the internal market by 1 January next year”, given the progress made by the country. “This is evidence of a new momentum in the region, linked to the efforts made by all the leaders of the candidate countries”, he declared. The gradual integration of the Western Balkans has gathered momentum in recent months, with Tirana, whose accession process was opened in 2022, due to open its first chapters in mid-October. (IS)