Foreign relations of Albania

The foreign ministers demanded rapid integration in the Western Balkans.

Within a few days, the EU will decide whether to start membership talks with Northern Macedonia and Albania. This was made clear during a meeting between the foreign ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and representatives of the European Commission in Thessaloniki.

"The Western Balkans are an intrinsic part of Europe and the European Union's enlargement policy is its most powerful tool for ensuring stability and security in the region," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told a high-level conference in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on Monday.

A credible enlargement process of the European Union is a strategic investment and the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia should be opened "without further delay or preconditions," Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Wednesday, as he participated in an event that marked the taking over by Croatia of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

As early as in spring, it could be seen how many corpses are left under those ruins.
The EU-Western Balkans Summit is scheduled for May next year in Zagreb. The EU Council formally postponed the decision to open accession talks with Northern Macedonia and Albania in October this year.

"The European perspective of the Western Balkans, which has been the basis of US engagement in the region for more than 20 years, has not changed and will not change", Matthew Palmer, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and US Special Representative for the Western Balkans said.

On the other hand, they expressed deep regrets about the European Council's failure to set a date for the opening the accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.

MEPs from the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament on Wednesday submitted a motion for a resolution condemning France for vetoing the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia during the European Council summit last week.

The foreign ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania discussed the upcoming talks at the European Council about the possibility of agreeing to launch membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania, during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York.

Peter Szijarto, who is attending the meeting of the EU Council in Helsinki, says that Western Balkans integration into EU should happen fast.
He assessed that countries in the region had done the best they could to speed up the accession process. "Accession negotiations with Serbia must be accelerated, while Serbia should be allowed to enter EU prior to 2025", Szijatro said.

POZNAŃ - The Leaders participating at the Berlin Process Summit in Poznań unanimously reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans, reads the Chair's conclusions released today by the Polish Government.