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Albania has practically started EU membership negotiations by opening first cluster

15 October 2024 News

The second EU-Republic of Albania Intergovernmental Conference took place in Luxembourg today, essentially launching the country's membership negotiations. In line with Albania’s Negotiating Framework, the first negotiating Fundamentals cluster was opened today, covering topics of fundamental importance for building a democratic, pluralistic and prosperous society.

The EU’s new methodology on the Union’s enlargement process, adopted in 2021, envisages the negotiation process to be systematised into six negotiating groups or clusters of negotiating chapters and places much more emphasis on fundamental reforms in the candidate countries. The first Fundamentals cluster has a horizontal importance and determines the dynamics of the whole negotiation process — it opens first and closes last in the framework of the negotiations. The topics included in the scope of the cluster concern fundamental EU values related to the rule of law, fundamental rights, effective functioning of democratic institutions and others, whose sharing and implementation in practice by the candidate countries is a key indicator of readiness for future EU membership.

‘Bulgaria congratulates Albania for the progress achieved in the integration process, which is reflected in today's opening of the negotiations on the first cluster. This cluster is the key to their progress and we encourage Albania to continue with its efforts in all areas identified in the EU Common Position. Among them is the need for further progress in the area of protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities, in line with Albania’s commitments in the roadmap on the rule of law’, said in his statement the Bulgarian Permanent Representative to the EU Ambassador Rumen Alexandrov, who represented Bulgaria. ‘Albania is pursuing an active and constructive regional foreign policy and is one of the candidate countries fully aligning its foreign policy with that of the EU’, Ambassador Alexandrov added.

The Albanian delegation to the IGC was led by Prime Minister Edi Rama and included the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Igli Hasani.

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