Albania’s stalled bid for EU membership

EU governments gave Albania and North Macedonia – whose bid to join the EU is tied together – the green light to begin accession talks more than a year ago, but the process has officially stalled. One reason is that Bulgaria has put a hold on any talks with North Macedonia, which is preventing the process from moving forward. At the same time, Albania still needs to undertake more reforms to strengthen its democratic institutions and root out corruption. 

Journalist John Psaropoulos, who was recently in Albania covering developments on the ground, joins The Greek Current to talk about the steps Albania’s government has taken to address European concerns. We also look at how the failure to kick off talks is leading to a number of Albanians choosing to leave for brighter futures elsewhere. 

John Psaropoulos is an independent journalist based in Greece and Al Jazeera’s southeast Europe correspondent.