NEWS

EU sets Albania on road to membership

The European Union set Albania on the road to membership on Tuesday, agreeing to give the small Balkan state the status of candidate to join in recognition of the government’s recent reform efforts.

Years of political polarisation have slowed democratic reforms in Albania and kept it behind some of its ex-Yugoslav peers. But a change of government last September opened the way for an EU-backed reform push.

“Congratulations on candidate status just agreed,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said on Twitter. «(It is an) acknowledgement of reform efforts, encouragement for more.”

A NATO member of some three million people, Albania will have to meet further reform conditions to actually start negotiations on entry, a lengthy process that aims to bring the candidates’ laws in line with EU rules and can take many years.

It will also have to overcome a reluctance among many EU members towards any enlargement of the bloc, fuelled by concerns over economic costs, rising euroscepticism and disappointment with democratic progress in the EU’s latest members, Romania and Bulgaria.

As in those two Balkan countries, corruption and organised crime are major problems in Albania.

Having shed a Stalinist dictatorship, Albania escaped the wars that embroiled its northern neighbours in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but a chaotic transition to capitalism has left the country mired in poverty and corruption.

Albania joins Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Serbia as official candidates for membership. [Reuters]

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.