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Opening of the first EU-Albania group chapter, Politico: Accession talks take decades

Opening of the first EU-Albania group chapter, Politico: Accession talks take

Albania opened on Tuesday in Luxembourg the first chapters of negotiations for its membership in the European Union.

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 group 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, and others.

"At the moment 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 need to achieve, which is Albania in the EU by 2030", said Prime Minister Edi Rama, who led the Albanian delegation, writes in a post on X.

The EU delegation, led by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on behalf of the Hungarian EU presidency, also called the conference an "important milestone" in the process.

However, there is still a long way to go, as accession talks could drag on for decades.

Neighboring Montenegro is well ahead in the process, but even though they opened their first chapter 12 years ago, they still have 30 out of 33 chapters to close.

The EU has now set interim standards - particularly in the rule of law chapters - that must be met before the next steps in the bloc's negotiation process can be taken.  Politico.eu

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