TIRANA, May 12 /ATA – By Maela Marini/ – Albania is discussing conditions for closing European Union accession negotiations in the areas of justice and security, chief negotiator, Majlinda Dhuka, told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Speaking at a parliamentary hearing before the Committee on European Affairs and Foreign Policy, Dhuka presented a government report on Albania’s EU accession and integration process, describing 2025 as a breakthrough year in the country’s membership bid.
“2025 has been an extraordinarily successful year in terms of progress, driven first and foremost by political will across institutions and political forces, as well as institutional discipline,” Dhuka said, noting that around 157 institutions had been involved in the process.
She said Albania had succeeded in opening negotiations across all chapters and had now received the benchmarks required for closing 31 chapters.
Dhuka said “negotiations on a key cluster of chapters were formally opened on April 14, 2025, marking a strategic stage in integrating Albania’s market into the EU single market.”
“For this cluster, Albania has received 26 closing benchmarks related to the internal market, market standardisation, competition policy and consumer protection,” she said.
Dhuka added that all draft legislation linked to the accession process had undergone public consultation. According to her, 96 draft laws were published for consultation in 2025, including 38 related to EU integration.
She said Albania had worked to fulfil 24 interim benchmarks in the areas of justice and security, covering 92 priority measures.
“Discussions are currently continuing among the 27 member states in the Council,” Dhuka said. “First, Albania’s progress report has been reviewed, and second, discussions are under way on the conditions for closing negotiations in two areas – Chapters 23 and 24, justice and security.”
Dhuka said Albania was awaiting with “great interest” the next phase of closing negotiations across all chapters.
On judicial reform, she said Albania’s justice governance institutions, including the High Judicial Council and High Prosecutorial Council, had adopted around 14 key acts aimed at strengthening integrity standards for judges and prosecutors.
Albania has completed the vetting of 805 judges and prosecutors, she added, stressing the need to ensure integrity and professional standards remain permanent and sustainable.
Dhuka also highlighted progress in reducing the backlog of court cases, saying pending cases had fallen by 24% in 2025 compared with a year earlier, and by 60% compared with 2020.
She also pointed to continued efforts to digitalise Albania’s justice system.
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