EU starts actual membership talks with Albania

On Tuesday, Luxembourg hosted the second ministerial meeting of the EU Accession Conference with Albania, which marks the beginning of actual negotiations on the country's membership.

This is stated in the report of the EU Council.

The meeting opened negotiations with Albania on Cluster 1: Fundamentals, including the following areas and sections of negotiations:

• Functioning of democratic institutions;

• Public Administration Reform;

• Chapter 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights;

• Chapter 24 - Justice, freedom and security;

• Economic criteria;

• Section 5 - Public procurement;

• Section 18 - Statistics;

• Chapter 32 - Financial control.

The delegation of the European Union was headed by the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the participation of the Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varghese. The Albanian delegation was headed by Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania.

“Albania is making good progress in the EU accession process, and with the opening of the first, fundamental chapter of the accession negotiations, the country has reached another important milestone in its enlargement efforts.

One of the key priorities of the Hungarian Presidency is to advance EU enlargement, as the European Union needs the new impetus, fresh energy and new perspectives that the Western Balkans can provide. I look forward to Albania's further progress on the road to EU membership,” Szijjarto said.

Author - Olena Madiak, 15/10/2024