Brussels, Opening of the Final Negotiating Cluster between Albania and the EU
Joint Press Conference of Prime Minister Rama, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, and Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Marie Bjerre
Albania has reached a historic milestone in its European Union membership negotiations, with the opening of Cluster V “Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion” during the Seventh Intergovernmental Conference between Albania and the EU, held today in Brussels.
This is the final negotiating cluster to be opened for our country and marks a strategic turning point, as it formally concludes the phase of opening all 33 negotiating chapters within the span of just one year, making Albania one of the fastest and most coherent performers in the region throughout this process.
Prime Minister Rama led the Albanian delegation, accompanied by the Minister of State and Chief Negotiator Majlinda Dhuka, the Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption Adea Pirdeni, and other representatives of the responsible institutions. The agenda aimed to convey Albania’s preparedness, maturity and ambition as it enters this new phase of negotiations.
Following the conclusion of proceedings, Prime Minister Rama, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, and Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Marie Bjerre (representing the upcoming EU Presidency) held a joint press conference.
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Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Marie Bjerre:
Today marks a major milestone in Albania’s enlargement negotiations. With the opening of Cluster 5, all the negotiation’s six clusters have now been opened. Albania has put a strong effort into implementation, reform, and aligning to the EU legislation.
As a result, Albania’s progress in the negotiation is advancing with steady pace. The first cluster was opened in September, only last year, and in a little more than a year, all clusters have been opened, including two during the Danish presidency. This is a record speed.
This milestone serves as a recognition of Albania’s hard work towards your European future. The commitment to reforms demonstrated by the Albanian government and its people is truly impressive. The enlargement report from the Commission shows that Albania continues to move forward on the fundamentals, particularly on justice reform and in the fight against organized crime and corruption.
Next step is meeting the interim benchmark under the fundamentals. This step will lay the groundwork for beginning the closed negotiation chapters. I encourage Albania to maintain reform momentum and promote inclusive political dialogue. Enlargement is a priority of the Danish presidency. Today we are delivering yet another result.
If Albania continues this path with the same focus, pace and quality as we see now, I am sure that membership will be achieved in a very near future. Albania belongs to the European family.
I want to thank you, Prime Minister Edi Rama, for the cooperation during this semester. It is truly impressive how fast you are delivering. All I can say is keep it up and you will be part of the European Union sooner rather than later. Thank you.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos:
Today is a special day, not just for Albania concluding all or opening all the clusters, but also for the European Union, because today shows that EU offer works and that we can count on Albania also in the future. This success wouldn’t be possible without firm political commitment of Albania and by the strong engagement of all EU member states to support Albania’s progress. I am grateful to the Danish presidency, dear Marie, for your efforts to make this milestone possible.
We are committed to bringing Albania into the European Union, as you said. Albania’s success is the result of the authorities of Albania working with civil society and other stakeholders in implementation of important EU reforms. And it is the result of Albanian citizens asking for change and supporting these changes.
The EU reforms bring changes in political system, in economy, but also in the Albanian society, making it truly European and therefore Albania is the best example of transformative power of enlargement. It shows that when you deliver, you progress. You are an inspiration to many in the Western Balkans, for many citizens who would like to see the same determination and change in their countries.
Opening all clusters is a great success but closing them is the real price. The next years are a moment of truth. Your success will be determined by how well and how quickly you are adopting and implementing European legislation. Now is the moment to accelerate, especially in critical areas such as justice reform, judicial independence and fight against corruption, property rights, minority issues and media freedom. And the next step is for Albania to meet the interim benchmarks.
This will not always be easy, as it is with every candidate country. But you, dear Edi, have something very powerful in your favor – widest public support of all candidate countries. More than 90% of Albanians see their future in the EU. Work with them all, with the opposition in the parliament, with civil society and the private sector, and this will be the best guarantee for Albania’s future success.
The Commission will continue to support and advise you in taking up the challenges of European Union membership. Our role is to make sure Albania is well prepared when it joins. We are committed, I am personally committed, to support building a prosperous future for all Albanians home in the European Union.
Prime Minister Edi Rama:
Who could have thought that we would be here today opening all clusters until not long ago. It was something that seemed impossible and we were at the point to get used to pushbacks and to punches in our stomach, but I believe that all the journey made us stronger, made us more conscious about the big deal of this process and made us more mature and here we are today in front of what was still a dream only a bit more than a year ago and now it has developed into a working plan, a reality that we have to work with in our daily life.
So, without any platitude or formal words I want to thank wholeheartedly the two exceptional people that are on my left side, Marie and Marta. Marie for having transformed the words of the Danish presidency in deeds when it comes to enlargement by supporting and pushing forward and Marta for championing the accession process of Albania and of the whole Western Balkans with fervor and very strong will that make us all feel energized and feel really in debt if we don’t deliver in time.
On the other hand I am absolutely inspired by all these months and by the strong support the enlargement process or the reunification process of Europe is getting and we are going to do everything in our hands to go forward with the same intensity, with the same discipline and with the same hard work to deliver and to make sure that this common project that we are building brick by brick together with our partners here in Brussels and with our partners in the Member States does not stop. So, what to say?
Today Albania comes out with this first phase with pride and with even bigger sense of responsibility. As Marta said we don’t represent here a political party or just a political view. We represent here a whole nation that supports as none the European Union and the European Union accession more than 90% of our people and I am sure that very few that are in the few percents remaining, they simply did not have a good day when the survey was being done because I hardly see a single Albanian thinking that the EU accession is not the best idea and is not the horizon we have to aim for the sake of our children.
In conclusion, I want to add that both the hard way and the soft way we went through taught us something very important. Never take anything for granted in Brussels. So, when they smile, enjoy but don’t take it for granted. It can disappear from their faces just like this. So, keep going and do the hard work and respond in every circumstance with humility and with results.
These two things are the things that these people appreciate the most and as I say with the mentor on one side, the commission, with the elders on the other side, the member states, we are in really very good hands if we never forget that at the end it’s the work of our hands that matter. Not for them but for us. Not for the commission or the member states but for the Albanian people and the next generation of citizens to come.
Thank you again Marie, thank you Marta and through you a big thank you to everyone that was with us in the room before coming here to this press conference. We really appreciate and will do everything to be always where we should be based on the plan to end this first phase by concluding the accession talks within 2027 and then entering in the phase of political support and of full accession.
So again, stop me because otherwise I will not stop saying thank you!
Q&A
Albania has made a historic step in this process. I want to know what message do you have for the Albanian citizens, for the political factors and for the skeptical people?
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos:
Thank you. I don’t know who is skeptical. The 9%?!. The message I have for the citizens of Albania is that this is all your work. We can help, we can be at your side, but you are the ones who are delivering. And as once you have gotten the candidate status, it is your responsibility, and it should be also your commitment to be successful on the European path. But at the same time, it is also the responsibility and commitment of the European Union, of the Commission and the Member States. And you know, it is not difficult to be positive towards your country because you deliver. And you know, if we need a case, what the EU accession process is, we just have to look at your country. It is about the transformation. And it is about strong leadership.
In Edi Rama, you have a leader who is not looking back in the past and looking for excuses why something cannot be done. Dear Edi, you are the leader who is looking at the future and finding the solutions for the existing challenges we all together have. And something more. We have heard today at the IGC that the alignment of Albania with the European common foreign and security policy is 100%. In this geopolitical situation, we really need partners we can rely on and Albania is one of them.
To the skeptical, you know, if you would have the result that 100% of the people of Albania are for the EU membership, I will be skeptical because this is like in the old communist times. So, it’s always good to have people who are skeptical or to ask questions. And we still have now a lot of time also during our communication campaign that we talk to those people and to the citizens in the European Union.
So, I will finish with this. Albania, just go on. We are preparing a home for you in Europe.
Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Marie Bjerre:
I want to say that this today is a huge milestone for Albania. We have now opened all negotiations clusters with Albania. And the reason why we have done so is because Albania is also delivering and this is a proof of it. Albania has had a strategic focus on accession to the EU and the communication about EU domestically. And now we see the results, all the clusters are opened. I believe that is a huge inspiration also for other candidate countries.
If a candidate country is delivering, there will be results. But I also have to say that there’s still a lot of work ahead. Now we have opened all clusters but now the negotiations are on and hopefully also the closing of the clusters. And it is a lot of work and there will be bumps on the way. It will be difficult. And I really hope that you keep the motivation because the momentum is there. We are so many countries that are pushing for enlargement. There is a new momentum today because it is also for the benefit of the current EU member countries, for the EU to go further with enlargement. It’s not just Albania who’s being stronger with EU accession. It is also EU who is getting stronger with Albania on board.
So, the momentum is there, and I hope you will keep up the momentum. We are here to support you.
Prime Minister Edi Rama:
Thank you. And I believe that the question about the skeptical was not about them who are skeptical about EU but was about them who are fully committed and in love with the EU and are questioning us and are questioning you and are questioning anyone else around. Is it really going to happen? Is it real? Are we going to have finally what we have dreamt for so long time? Or will it be again another period like the one before? But here I want to stop for a second and say, take the years we are working together and we are struggling to move forward and with all the difficulties, with all the pushbacks, with the slaps and the punches, if you take out of the picture the European Union and you keep in the picture myself, our government, the Albanians doing their best, would Albania be what it is today? No. This process has helped us in a way that otherwise would have been impossible. Because I may sound pathetic or whatever you want to call it, but it is like going to school and having to struggle and having to be told that you must improve and having to be told that you have to come back again because your exam is not enough and so on and so further. But at the end, if you don’t give up and if you continue to persist, you win.
What Albania and the Albanians win in this process is something beyond the clusters, beyond the chapters, beyond the formal accession itself. They win and we win a country that functions based on institutions. That function is based on rules of law, that function based on all the standards and the principles that make the EU countries so admirable. So, I would say yes, last year was amazing because it’s been rewarding. But without the previous years that were not rewarding, although we worked hard, this year would not have come. And so being skeptical is not a bad thing, but should not stop us from working every hour, every minute to make it happen.
Last but not least, yes, we have a majority like in communist time. It was the same in the Ottoman Empire, because we are loyal to empires. And this is the first empire we want to be with. So that’s why this majority is different, not in numbers, but in essence. Because yes, we have been all in with the Ottomans, with the Soviets, with the Chinese, but all in by imposition, not by choice. This one is all in by choice.
And that’s why Maria understood that there is no escape from Albania. That’s why everyone is understanding. Better they get us in because we’ll stroke them to the end. And so, if they want to get rid of us, they must get us in. And then we’ll have our normal dimension, which is far smaller than me.
So, thank you and thank you again to everyone.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos: I would love to have a last word before we close this press conference. I would like to add a personal word of congratulations. Opening all six clusters in 13 months. This is also the strongest possible statement of your personal commitment, dear Edi.
We are both children from a region where the taste of freedom has defined our path. And when we first met last December, you brought me this gift, a decorated Coca-Cola can, and it came in a box with the inscription, once upon a time, it was the most cherished gift even when it came empty. And what’s more, it has your design printed on it. So, this is your work.
To celebrate this moment, we have now turned your gift into a celebratory cake. All of us who grew up on the communist side of the Iron Curtain remember what a mysterious thing Coca-Cola was. I was reminded of this when I read the book, we all know, ‘Free’ by the Albanian writer Lea Ypi. There is a passage where two Albanian families get into a bitter fight over an empty Coca-Cola can. The book brings Albania’s last 40 years to life, illustrating the human cost of reforms and the challenge of building democratic institutions and democratic traditions. It shows how far you have come.
Let us make sure freedom will stay with your people, a free Albania in free Europe, and this is the job we expect you to finish, dear Mr. Prime Minister, dear Edi. And now we can eat the cake. We should celebrate more, so six open clusters, all the clusters open, it is something to celebrate.
Congratulations, Albania.