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European Union starts negotiations with Albania regarding accession

by AI | 18.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

LUXEMBOURG (ANP) – The negotiations with Albania on joining the European Union can begin. This was stated by the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, at a press conference on Tuesday. He spoke of a “historic moment”. The Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that Albania’s accession to the European Union is a matter “of life or death.”

The Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and the negotiating team in Luxembourg (Photo: The Prime Minister of Albania)

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“This is not pro-European rhetoric,” added Rama. For freedom, the rule of law, and democracy, it is crucial that Albania becomes a member of the European Union, he said. “The Western Balkans need the European Union. We have no plan B.”

If Albania were not to choose to join the EU, according to Rama, “it’s the same as giving up our way of life. We have finally chosen, after enduring centuries of darkness under empires and regimes that were imposed on us. Our history has taught us the hardest way that cannot be found and guaranteed outside the realm of the EU.”

“Unfortunately, and I cannot avoid saying this, it was with the help of Vladimir Putin that this process gained new momentum after the aggression against Ukraine,” Rama said.

Other countries in the Balkans can also serve as a buffer against Russia, according to various EU member states as well as the Balkan countries themselves.

The European Union needs Albania and other countries in the Western Balkans, said Szijjarto as well. The European Union needs new “freshness and energy.” He hopes that the accession negotiations with Albania will go faster than usual. The average waiting time for a candidate member state to actual accession is fifteen years.

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