Albania plans to complete technical negotiations with the European Union by 2027, Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani said in an interview with the news channel Euronews. At the same time, he reaffirmed the ambitious goal of becoming a full member of the EU by 2030.

“We are working towards closing the technical chapters of the accession negotiations in the next two years,” Hasani told Euronews. The minister emphasized that his country could thus be one of the first in the Western Balkans to successfully complete this phase. Political support within Albania is strong: “93 to 95 percent of Albanians consider the path to the European Union to be the right one,” Hasani continued. According to him, there is also broad consensus across all party lines in favor of the European course.

Hasani said that judicial reform is a central element of the rapprochement process. This has not only strengthened international confidence in Albania, but also given rise to new hope among the population. The minister said:

“The reform of the judiciary was the cornerstone that changed the entire perception of the realities we face. Judicial reform has given our people hope.” (Source: Interview with Euronews, June 7, 2025)

EU accession negotiations with Albania were officially opened on July 19, 2022. Initial progress was already made in October 2024, when the chapters on “fundamentals” were approved. Further clusters followed in spring 2025, including on the internal market, competitiveness, and inclusive growth. This development is evident from a recent overview of the enlargement process on the Wikipedia information platform, which regularly compiles official EU data.

Albania’s ties to the EU are also noticeable in financial terms: through the IPA III program and the so-called Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans, around 922 million euros are to be made available to the country by 2027 – a strong signal from Brussels that underpins Hasani’s statements. (Source: Wikipedia – “Accession of Albania to the European Union,” as of June 2025)

In an interview with Euronews, Hasani also addressed relations with Greece, a diplomatically sensitive issue in the past. He emphasized the importance of good neighborly relations and called for past differences to be put behind them: “We must cultivate these relations in a positive way,” said the foreign minister.

With clear goals, international support, and domestic backing, Albania appears to be on a realistic path toward EU membership. Whether the timetable will be met remains to be seen in the upcoming rounds of negotiations – but the political signals are much more positive than they were just a few years ago.

Image:
Österreichisches Außenministerium, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons