The third meeting of the Accession Conference with Albania at ministerial level was held today in Brussels.
The European Union delegation was led by Mr Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the participation of Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos. The Albanian delegation was led by Mr Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania.
The meeting served to open negotiations with Albania on Cluster 6: External relations, including the following negotiating chapters:
- Chapter 30 – External relations
- Chapter 31 – Foreign, security and defence policy
The EU also set benchmarks for the provisional closure of these chapters.
This follows the opening of the first cluster, on ‘Fundamentals’, at the Accession Conference with Albania on 15 October 2024.
Today, we held the second Intergovernmental Conference with Albania under the Hungarian presidency, taking another concrete step forward in its accession process. This progress reflects our strong focus on the integration of the Western Balkans, which is essential for the stability and future of the European Union.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Monitoring of progress in the alignment with and implementation of the EU acquis and relevant European standards will continue throughout the negotiations.
The Accession Conference will return to this cluster at an appropriate moment.
Background
Following the introduction of the revised methodology for the accession negotiations in 2020, negotiating chapters are divided in six thematic clusters:
- Fundamentals
- Internal market
- Competitiveness and inclusive growth
- Green agenda and sustainable connectivity
- Resources, agriculture and cohesion
- External relations
Negotiations on the Fundamentals cluster are the first to be opened and the last to be closed, and progress under this cluster will determine the overall pace of negotiations.
/Argumentum.al
