The vote requires an absolute majority and is being handled under an accelerated procedure, reflecting its importance for Albania’s foreign policy.

Addressing lawmakers, chairman of the Socialist Party’s parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, said parliament was being asked to take a decision of exceptional political and historical significance, one that went beyond the routine legislative agenda and reflected Albania’s evolving role in the international stage.

“The forwarded draft law concerns the ratification of the Charter of the Peace Board, a new international body conceived and proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, to which the Republic of Albania and its Prime Minister, Edi Rama, have been invited as founding members,” Balla said.

He described the invitation as direct international recognition of Albania’s constructive and reliable role, calling it an unprecedented positive moment in which the country is seen as a contributor to major global peace solutions rather than a peripheral actor.

The Council of Ministers approved the agreement in principle on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

According to the draft, the Board of Peace is to be established as an international organisation with legal personality, tasked with promoting stability, restoring legitimate and credible governance, and ensuring sustainable peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict, in line with international law.

Under the Charter, membership is limited to states invited by the Board’s chair and begins once a state formally accepts the Charter’s legal obligations. Member states are represented by their head of state or government for a term of up to three years, renewable by the chair.

The three-year term does not apply to member states that contribute more than 1 billion dollars in cash to the Peace Board within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.

The plenary session was requested on Wednesday afternoon by the ruling Socialist Party, which sought fast-track ratification of the agreement.

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The experts, led by Klaas Knot, former governor of the Dutch central bank, are holding meetings with senior state officials, including Albania’s central bank governor, Gent Sejko.

The talks aim to identify concrete steps to harmonize the Bank of Albania’s legal framework with that of the European Union and reinforce safeguards for its institutional and financial independence.

The European Commission considers central bank independence a key precondition for macroeconomic stability and monetary-policy credibility, both essential for sustainable economic development.

This position is shared by international leaders such as European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who have stressed that independent central banks are vital for economic stability and long-term growth.

In the meeting with Sejko, the two sides discussed detailed measures for aligning legislation with the EU acquis and for further strengthening the bank’s independence and governance.

Sejko said the Bank of Albania remained fully committed to enhancing its independence in line with EU requirements and European best practices.

According to the European Commission’s 2023–24 Progress Reports, aligning the central bank law with the EU acquis remains a priority, particularly regarding the personal independence of the governor. The reports note that further improvements are still needed to achieve full compliance with EU standards.

After the mission concludes, the expert team is expected to prepare a package of recommendations to be presented to the European Commission and subsequently to the Albanian authorities as part of the EU accession preparations.

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The talks focused primarily on Albania’s path toward European Union membership, with Hasani reaffirming EU integration as a national priority.

Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of Cyprus’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2026, describing it as a “key moment” in Albania’s accession process.

“We look forward to Cyprus’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2026 – a crucial opportunity to advance Albania’s path toward membership, with Cyprus as a trusted partner for Albania and the wider region,” Hasani said in a statement on the social media.

The meeting also focused on ways to strengthening bilateral relations, with particular focus on economic ties, tourism, energy cooperation, trade links, and potential joint projects of mutual interest.

Kombos’s visit to Tirana marks a new step in political cooperation between Albania and Cyprus, as the two countries approach the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

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Kos posted in the social media extracts from the speech she delivered last week to the European Parliament highlighting the fact that, “The swift progress in accession negotiations is a clear signal that we stand with Albania”.

According to her, “The full by-in across Albanian society will be needed to reach Albania’s ambitions of closing all negotiating chapters by the end of 2027.”

“Accession negotiations between Albania and the EU are progressing at an unprecedented pace, as we heard with several important milestones already met in the past few months and more to come”, appreciated Commissioner Kos.

Commissioner for Enlargement stated further on that,” Albania has seriously engaged in enlargement, while EU delivers expecting the merit-based approach.”

“We continue to maintain the very strong focus on the reforms in the area of the rule of law and the fight against corruption. Albania is expected to consolidate further the very good progress in this area”, said she.

According to her, “The swift progress in accession negotiations is a clear signal that we stand with Albania, and we genuinely committed to marking out a clear pathway for EU accession.”

“Enlargement is a whole of social project and full by-in across Albanian society will be needed to reach Albania’s ambitions. But, the realistic goal of closing all negotiating chapters by the end of 2027”, stated Kos. /m.m/j.p/p.s./

Asked at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana whether completing the EU accession negotiations by 2027 and joining the EU by 2030 was a realistic ambition, Costa said Albania will definitely become a EU member and it may join the bloc even at an earlier date if the country maintains momentum of this high rate of progress.

“We are witnessing what Albania is delivering on daily basis. So we are witnessing Albania’s progress and as soon as the accession negotiations process wraps up, Albania will become an EU member state. Why not, even before 2030? That means that if Albania maintains delivering such results, it is entirely possible for Albania to become an EU member state before 2030,” he stated.

Costa underlined that this will depend on Albania.

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Addressing a campaign rally in Kuçova on Wednesday, PM Rama highlighted the EU support for Albania during three consecutive terms in office of his Socialist government.

According to him, around 90% of the EU assistance has been provided as soft loans, while the country will receive over one billion euros annually once it becomes a full-fledged EU member state.

PM Rama underlined that agricultural sector alone will benefit around 300 million euros in direct support once Albania joins the EU.

The government head noted that he revealed the figures for everyone to understand that as an EU member, Albania will have an extra budget in addition to the national revenue due to be generated due to the country’s economic growth.

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The Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation, Blendi Gonxhja said in a post on the social media on Thursday that out of 17 negotiation chapters, his ministry will lead talks on 10 of them, playing a major role in the process.

Economy Minister explained that Cluster 2, namely the Common Market includes 9 chapters, and 7 of them are led by the ministry he leads.

“These cover important topics like the free movement of goods, services, and workers. Cluster 3 – Competitiveness has 8 chapters, with 3 under our leadership. These focus on competition policies, state aid, and growing key industries,” Gonxhja said.

He underlined that Albania is working hard on structural reforms and aligning of national legislation with EU acquis.

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“Great visit by President Ursula von der Leyen in Albania. It marked a new stage in EU-Albania relations. After the opening of negotiations on fundamentals’ cluster last week the prospect of accession is real and is at hand,” Gonzato said.

The EU Ambassador underlined “the EU membership prospect is a great message of hope also for the Albanian youth who want their country to be part of the EU.”

“It is the same youth which shared such inspiring thoughts with us yesterday, at the opening of the academic year of the College of Europe in Tirana. Thank you Federica Mogherini for organizing such an important event for Tirana, Albania and the entire region,” he added.

Gonzato voiced confidence that the months to come are going to be exciting and challenging at the same time for Albania.

“There is no time to lose – important reforms are needed to progress towards accession, The EU and the Delegation to Albania, are here to support Albania in these efforts. With yesterday’s approval of the reform agenda the country will receive more than EUR 920 million under the Growth Plan. This will help modernise infrastructure, upgrade public services, stimulate growth, thus bringing the quality of life of Albanian citizens closer to EU standards,” EU Ambassador concluded.

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“Albania is once again 100% aligned with the EU common and foreign security policy,” PM Rama stated at a joint press conference with the visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The government head expressed gratitude to Von der Leyen for her role and the European Commission’s unsparing support for Albania.

“We wouldn’t have come this far without your resolution, without the EC unsparing support and the daily cooperation with the European Commission’s mission in Tirana and without the steady interaction with everyone in Brussels,” PM Rama remarked.

“We are pretty aware of the so many drawbacks we had to overcome and how politically tough it has been to once again convince EU turn its eyes on the Western Balkans,” PM Rama said.

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Present at the meeting of the Committee, Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro said that, “This bill is a very clear expression of the interest of the Albanian government in the protected areas, the preservation of biodiversity and natural ecosystems in the Republic of Albania”.

“This union (IUCN) through its mechanisms strengthens the institutional capacity of its members to preserve biological diversity and to protect the ecological processes of life support at global, regional, national and local levels”, said Kumbaro.

While the relator of the case Ismet Beqiraj emphasized that this legal initiative is done within the framework of the full completion of the Legal Code that deals with the protection of the environment, and especially since it is a very important chapter for Albania’s membership in the European Union.

After discussions, this draft law was approved in principle, article by article and in its entirety./p.s./