Albania begins EU accession talks

Albania opened the first chapters of negotiating its accession to the European Union in Luxembourg on Tuesday. 
The Balkan country, which was granted candidate status in 2014, held its first accession conference with the EU in July 2022, but the opening of the first cluster marks a major step forward in joining the bloc.
Tuesday’s negotiations were aimed at assessing Albania’s compliance with EU criteria in policy areas such as the functioning of democratic institutions, the judiciary and fundamental rights, economic criteria, public procurement and financial control, among others.
“Right now we are on the road with very clear ideas, with a very strong will and there is no doubt that we will achieve what we have to achieve, which is Albania in the EU by 2030,” Prime Minister Edi Rama, who led the Albanian delegation, wrote in a post on X. 
The EU delegation, led by Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on behalf of the Hungarian EU presidency, also called the conference an “important milestone” in the process.
There’s still a long way to go, however, as accession talks can last for decades. 
Take Montenegro: The neighboring country is far ahead in the process, but even though they opened their first chapter 12 years ago, they still have 30 chapters out of 33 to close.
The EU has now set interim benchmarks — in particular on the rule-of-law chapters — that must be met before the next steps in the cluster negotiation process can be taken.