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VOA: Talks with the EU, Albania opens another group of chapters

2024-12-17 13:23:00, Aktualitet CNA

Today, Albania started negotiations for another chapter group, part of the European Union membership process. They were formalized with the holding of the third intergovernmental conference in Brussels. Chapter VI, "Foreign relations", includes Chapter 30 "Foreign relations" and Chapter 31 "Foreign, security and defense policy". Two months ago, Albania started concrete membership talks with the European Union, for the first group of chapters. Called "Fundamentals", this group of chapters is also the most important. It opens first and closes last, as it touches on weighty topics from the judiciary and fundamental rights, to justice and security, public procurement, statistics and financial control. In total, there are 6 groups of chapters that summarize the 35 chapters that make up the legal architecture of the European Union.

"Two chapter groups have been opened in two months. And this speed is unprecedented. More has happened in these two months than in 15 years", declared Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, whose country is closing its six-month presidency of the European Union, bringing to attention the fact that Albania has submitted its application for membership. since 2009.

"Today's decision is also a signal for Albania and the Western Balkan region and beyond, that expansion is a priority for the EU and we are committed to getting other results and being able to strengthen our Union based on geostrategic changes. ", said the Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos.

For Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, the talks on this group of chapters are not expected to be "very difficult, because Albania has been in harmony with the EU's foreign policies, as far as security diplomacy is concerned. And the Albanians themselves are supportive of these types of policies".

Albania seems to be looking to take advantage of the favorable geostrategic moment, where due to the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the EU has returned attention to expansion, as it has not happened for a very long time. For this reason, Mr. Rama repeated today that "we want to make sure that we have done our homework and that our negotiations will be closed in 2027. and hopefully our EU membership will be closed within this decade"./ VOA