Albania's EU Goal 'in Sight'; Reforms Top 80 Percent
Speaking alongside Prime Minister Edi Rama at a joint news conference in Tirana, she praised Albania's push toward the bloc. "You in Albania have been working hard to turn Albania's European dream into reality," she said.
She went on: "I think the goal is in sight. Albania is among the front-runners in our accession process," she said, crediting the country with "remarkable progress" over the past year.
Von der Leyen pointed to concrete milestones. Albania has opened the last remaining clusters of negotiating chapters and, in July, closed its first three, including external relations. She said Tirana is now "100%" aligned with the bloc's common foreign and security policy, and that the two sides "see the world with the same eyes."
Still, she warned that work remains. More reforms are needed across open chapters, chiefly on justice, the electoral framework and environmental protection. "Adopting the reforms is important, but it is, of course, also equally important to implement those reforms thoroughly to make sure that they deliver real change for the people of Albania," she said.
Rama vowed to press ahead with every requirement of the process, citing Albania's "ironclad will" and saying the country expects to start closing additional negotiating chapters before the year ends. He also pointed to the government's campaign against organized crime and graft, arguing that "if up until a while back corruption was the system, now the system is fighting corruption."
The financial picture is also moving. Von der Leyen said Albania has completed more than 80% of the reform steps required under the EU's Growth Plan and has already received €213 million ($241 million) in EU funding, with more payments due in the coming weeks.
She also announced that the commission will release its pre-enlargement policy reviews next week. The reviews will examine the EU's institutions, policies and budget to prepare the bloc for new members. "Accession will always remain merit-based, but merit-based does not mean slow," she said.
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