Prime Minister Edi Rama made a forceful case for a staged, merit-based entry of the Western Balkans into the European Union, telling an interparliamentary conference on enlargement in Tirana that Brussels should take the political decision to admit candidate countries now and let the technical process follow.
The idea of phased accession, under which candidates gain gradual access to EU mechanisms before full membership, has moved from the margins into mainstream debate. Backed by heavyweight member states including Germany and France, it has been incorporated into a European Commission document on the review of the enlargement process.
Rama built his argument around German reunification. "Helmut Kohl did not go there to tell East Germans, 'Now you are free and you have 33 chapters to submit to,'" he said. "He said, 'Now we are together.' From that moment the whole process of reunification, with all its details, took time. Perhaps it is still not complete."
What should change, he argued, is that "political decisions should not be left for the last moment but taken now, and then the processes left to the merit of each country."
He then turned to an extended metaphor aimed at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "There is a coincidence here: Ursula has seven children, and the EU has seven candidates," Rama said. "Ursula's children did not grow up in the neighbourhood; they grew up around the table. She did not tell her daughter, 'Go and spend some time with that Russian gangster on the corner because mum is busy.' She did not tell her son, 'Go and play with some Chinese toys because the adults are using the table now.'"
Not everyone at the table had an equal voice, he acknowledged, "and perhaps the food was not the same either." Under his model, a country that opens and closes a chapter would become a full member for that chapter while remaining "one of Ursula's children who hasn't grown up yet" in areas still under negotiation.
"We still love Europe"
Rama said Albanians retain an enthusiasm for the EU that has faded in many member states. "In your countries the EU is taken more for granted, as if it were a marriage, whereas we are fully committed," he said. "We argue about many things at home, even the most trivial details. But on one thing we have always agreed: that we want to be part of Europe and that we love Europe."
He closed with a warning. "I hope very much that you will not let us down again," he said, adding that abandoning the Western Balkans would mean Europe letting itself down. "It would not be a simple failure for Europe. It would be the greatest failure."
EU: laws are not enough
European representatives welcomed Albania's progress but kept the emphasis on delivery. David McAllister, chair of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, said the challenge ahead is strengthening judicial independence, achieving sustainable results in the fight against corruption, and ensuring public institutions serve citizens effectively.
Andreas Schieder, the Parliament's rapporteur for Albania, said opening chapters is only the start. "They must be closed, and then comes the implementation," he said. Albania has "enough time" to close the remaining chapters, he added, after which it could be considered for membership "before the end of this decade."
The EU's new ambassador to Tirana, Sofia Moreira de Sousa, struck a similar note. She said justice reform had transformed the institutional landscape of the judiciary but cautioned that the process grows more demanding the closer a country gets to membership. "Adopting legislation is only part of the process," she said. "Implementation is the irreplaceable aspect."
Albania aims to conclude accession negotiations in 2027 and join the EU before 2030, a goal Parliament Speaker Niko Peleshi described as the country's strategic objective.
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