The European Union Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, welcomed on Thursday Albania’s progress in membership negotiations, praising it as a “champion” of regional cooperation.
Kos has been in the capital, Tirana, to meet with the country’s leaders and assure them of the bloc’s continued support, AP reports.
The Albanian Parliament is expected to ratify two new financing documents worth 920 million euros, under the EU’s growth plan.
The funding would enable the small Western Balkan country “to be ready to join the EU,” according to Kos.
“You are a champion of regional cooperation. And that is also very important,” she said, referring to the once war-torn Western Balkans region after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
The EU decided in 2020 that it would launch full membership negotiations with Albania, and talks began last October on how the country aligns with the EU’s position on issues such as the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions, and the fight against corruption.
The Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, are at various stages in their applications for EU membership.
They have been frustrated by the slow pace of progress, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has encouraged European leaders to move forward with the process of joining the bloc.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said he hopes to complete the negotiation process with the EU by 2027 and for Albania to become a member of the bloc by 2030.
“Now the focus must turn to the implementation of the approved reforms and to accelerate the confirmation of all other reforms and especially the justice reform, a cornerstone of the EU integration process,” Kos said in a joint press conference with Rama.
Albania holds parliamentary elections on May 11, which Kos does not expect to “slow down the European process.”
