TIRANA, Sept 28 /ATA/ – The European Union should advance accession talks whenever candidate countries meet the required conditions, while Albania should continue its reform efforts, European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) Chairman David McAllister said on Monday.
Speaking at an interparliamentary conference on EU enlargement and Albania’s accession, McAllister said Russia’s war against Ukraine had increased the strategic importance of enlargement and warned that prolonged uncertainty in the Western Balkans could create opportunities for third countries to expand their influence.
“The European Union must move the negotiations forward. Whenever conditions are met, countries that carry out reforms should be able to trust the EU to honour its commitments,” McAllister said.
He noted that Albania had opened all six negotiating clusters, met interim benchmarks in May and provisionally closed three chapters in July covering science and research, education and culture, and external relations.
“These achievements reflect a great deal of work by the government, members of parliament and many of us who have been engaged in supporting Albania’s future in the European Union. Albania deserves recognition and credit for this,” he said.
McAllister urged Albania to maintain the pace of reforms, particularly on judicial independence, the fight against corruption and public services.
“The task now is to strengthen judicial independence, achieve more results in the fight against corruption and ensure that public institutions serve their citizens well,” he said.
He also cited Montenegro’s progress, saying it had opened all 33 negotiating chapters and provisionally closed 18, adding that completion of the process would send a strong signal that EU membership was achievable.
McAllister stressed the role of parliaments in adopting legislation, holding governments to account and ensuring that commitments are implemented.
“The European Parliament will continue to support Albania and Montenegro on their path towards membership. Responsibility is shared: these countries must advance their reforms, but the EU must also turn these achievements into the next steps towards accession,” he said.
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