The conference will take place at the EU Council in Brussels and marks the next major step in Albania’s integration process, Rama said, adding that “Albania is not stopping” on its path towards membership.

Rama also criticised opposition claims that EU negotiations had stalled, saying progress was being driven by concrete work rather than political statements.

“They said negotiations were blocked; they said the NATO summit was cancelled; they said the government had fallen. They said everything except what has actually happened, because their work is words, while our word is work,” Rama wrote on social media.

The ninth Intergovernmental Conference follows a series of meetings that have progressively opened negotiation clusters with Albania since the formal launch of accession talks in July 2022.

The first conference, held on July 19, 2022, officially opened accession negotiations after EU member states approved the negotiating framework.

Subsequent conferences opened talks on key clusters, including Fundamentals, External Relations, Internal Market, Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth, Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity, and Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion.

The eighth Intergovernmental Conference, held on May 26, 2026, paved the way for Albania to enter the final phase of accession negotiations after EU member states confirmed that interim conditions under the Fundamentals cluster had been met.

The July 14 meeting is expected to mark the first closure of negotiation chapters, a significant milestone in Albania’s bid to join the European Union.

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