Albania could be proposed to open conditioned negotiations at the European Council summit on 28 June in Brussels. German Foreign Minister Haiko Mass said at the Atlantic Council that it supports the conditional opening of negotiations for both Albania and Macedonia.
“Of course, EU accession is conditional and aspirant countries must meet clearly defined criteria. This has never been questioned. The focus is on liberal democracy and a functioning state based on the rule of law. Some countries have made good progress in these areas. An example is the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which in the future will be called the Republic of Northern Macedonia. Albania has also made significant progress by carrying out ambitious reforms in justice. That is why I expressly support the conditional opening of accession talks with these two countries”.
A few days ago, the Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Kristan Lang, said in Tirana that Germany sees corruption as a problem and asks accelerating the Vetting process. According to him, “Tahiri” and “Xhafaj” issues are not German conditions for opening negotiations with Albania.
It is also interesting to expect that France and the Netherland will hold the 28 June meeting that is currently among the skeptical countries in terms of opening negotiations. While EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Han in an interview for the Austrian daily “Der Standard” urged member states to open membership negotiations with Albania after our country has met the required conditions./tvklan.al
