"We will close the negotiations by Christmas 2027"/ Balla responds to accusations about Strasbourg

2026-07-13 13:01:00, Aktualitet CNA

"We will close the negotiations by Christmas 2027"/ Balla responds to

The Chairman of the Socialist Party Parliamentary Group, Taulant Balla, described the ninth Albania-EU Intergovernmental Conference, which will take place in Brussels, as a historic moment for the European integration process, emphasizing that Albania begins to close the first chapters of the negotiations.

According to Balla, with the current pace of negotiations, the objective of concluding them by the end of 2027 remains achievable.

"For me, it is a historic achievement that the ninth Intergovernmental Conference is being held and the closing of chapters has begun. With this pace of negotiations, we remain committed to closing the negotiations by Christmas next year," he declared.

During the debate in the Assembly, Balla also responded to the opposition's accusations about the socialist delegation in Strasbourg.

"Now, regarding the historical moment we are in, and all this noise, whenever Albania is in a historical moment, for me this is the first thing. In 2018-2019, Albania took historic steps towards membership in the European Union. This story of the parliament being attacked, the parliament being surrounded, and so on, is a well-known agenda. It is not the first time.

But tomorrow is truly a long-awaited moment. For me, who has been in this room for many years, to see the ninth intergovernmental conference being held and the chapters being closed is a historic achievement. And what I believe is understood by everyone is: at this pace of negotiations, we stand by our commitment and ambition to close the negotiations by Christmas next year and to move towards ratifications, whether in parliament, there may also be places that request a referendum.

"I would very much like Albania and Montenegro, as the two leading countries in this process, not to go through referendums, no matter how long... since we all know that in other countries that have gone through this process, no referendum has been requested. But it will also be a testing moment for us, in terms of all the lobbying that we have to do together with Montenegro or other countries, that we may also have Iceland in the new enlargement package, or other countries, to move forward", said Balla./ CNA