As the European Union described this Monday as a “Mega Monday” for the enlargement process, one name was noticeably absent from the statement of EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos: Albania.
Kos announced the opening of Cluster 1 negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova, praised Montenegro’s progress, and suggested that Podgorica could reach the finish line of accession talks during Ireland’s upcoming EU Council Presidency. However, Albania was not mentioned at any point.
“Today will truly be a big day, a ‘Mega Monday’ for the enlargement process.
First, Ukraine and Moldova will take the biggest step since receiving candidate status in 2023. We will finally be able to open Cluster 1 for both countries. Why? Because they have fulfilled their obligations, and it is now time for us to do our part. If they deliver results, we must deliver results as well. Therefore, I expect that in July we will open the remaining five clusters.
Second, we will close two more chapters with Montenegro. This will bring the total number of closed chapters to 16, roughly half of what remains to be completed.
I have just returned from Ireland, which will hold the next Presidency of the Council of the European Union. If the Commission, Montenegro, and the member states do their job properly, then during or by the end of the Irish Presidency we could bring Montenegro to the finish line,” Kos declared.
Notably, on the very day when Marta Kos stated that “if candidate countries deliver results, we must deliver results too,” Albania was absent from the list of countries receiving praise or concrete timelines from Brussels.
The omission of Tirana on a day that Brussels calls historic for enlargement raises serious questions. This comes at a time when EU institutions have expressed concerns over several decisions by Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government, ranging from changes to legislation on protected areas and tourism projects in environmentally sensitive zones such as Zvërnec, to the Strategic Investments Law and broader concerns regarding the rule of law.
EU concerns were further reflected in the months-long delay of the IBAR report, which, despite eventually receiving approval, summarized a number of Brussels’ reservations regarding Albania’s reform process.
For a country that until recently was often presented as one of the success stories of EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, the silence of the European Commissioner may be just as meaningful as her words. The question of whether the Rama government is hindering Albania’s European integration process has once again resurfaced.
At the end of her remarks, Marta Kos also emphasized that enlargement has become the European Union’s most important foreign policy tool.
“This is extremely important because enlargement is proving to be the most important foreign policy of the European Union. In the last 16 to 17 months, we have achieved more than in the previous 15 years,” Kos concluded.
