EU for Albania: EU membership process more likely than ever

Albania is in the last miles on the road to membership in the European Union and citizens can give another boost to this process. Before knocking on the doors of the European Union, Albania must be ready. For a “yes” instead of a “no”, the country must first integrate socio-economically.

"This is also evidence of the perspective that the entire region has to become part of the EU. It is the EU institutions that have a special interest in us becoming part of the EU, but also in preparing us to become part of the EU. In particular, when it comes to social dialogue and the labor market, we are closer to the EU than in other areas," said the Deputy Minister of MEKI, Olta Manjani.

The "opportunities conditioned by challenges" on the difficult path to membership in the "union" with the ambitious objective of 2030 are also acknowledged by the highest representatives of the European Union.

"The peculiarity of this process is that countries are already benefiting from EU membership even before they become full member states. I can confidently say that Albania is one of those countries that is using these opportunities, which is why it has an ambitious plan to complete membership negotiations by the end of 2027," declared Silvio Gonzato, EU Ambassador to Albania.

With the road still long before membership, the emphasis is particularly on the individual as Albania's most precious capital.

"We are doing this with a partnership model. This is clear because the growth plan is an EU partnership with the Western Balkans and the integration of these markets. This will bring opportunities for employees, but also opportunities for what is called the value chain, which means increasing the knowledge of businesses and employees. On the other hand, there are several EU programs that are being implemented in our countries," emphasized Majlinda Dhuka, Minister of State and Chief Negotiator of Albania with the EU.

In his speech, the European Union Ambassador to Albania, Silvio Gonzato, emphasized that the "union" will support social policies in Albania to prevent what he called "the desire of young people to emigrate." On the other hand, the EU ambassador also drew attention to the lack of a merit-based system in Albania. (A2 Televizion)