TIRANA, Dec 22 /ATA/ – Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Elisa Spiropali, said during an official visit to Skopje, North Macedonia, on Monday that Albania has achieved a major milestone by successfully opening 33 EU accession negotiation chapters in just 13 months.
Speaking at a joint press conference with North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister, Timčo Mucunski, Spiropali highlighted the two countries’ shared commitment to deepening cooperation in 2026.
She said the agenda of bilateral cooperation should have no boundaries, encompassing European integration, infrastructure, energy, the economy, security, education, culture, and people-to-people ties – factors that foster good neighborly relations.
“Geography made us neighbors, history taught us to be friends, the economy made us partners, and the times we live in demand that we be allies,” Spiropali said.
She emphasized that European integration remains Albania’s top foreign policy priority and the foremost goal of the Albanian nation.
Spiropali underlined that Albania’s progress in opening 33 negotiation chapters in just over a year reflects significant reform achievements, with the 2025 EU Progress Report praising deep reforms in the rule of law, judicial institutions, anti-corruption measures, and protection of minority rights.
“This report confirms that our path is the right one and that Albania’s European future is inseparable from the trajectory of the Western Balkans,” she said.
Spiropali underlined that the EU enlargement process should be seen not as a race between candidate countries, but as a shared journey toward an inevitable destination and a natural belonging for the region’s peoples.
She reaffirmed Albania’s full support for North Macedonia’s European path.
“A North Macedonia that strengthens standards, functional justice, and robust institutions is an investment in the stability and security of the entire region,” she said.
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