Albania's Path to the EU: Accession Talks and a Divided Country

Albania, a Balkan country that was largely cut off from the outside world under communism, continues its accession negotiations with the European Union (EU). At the 10th intergovernmental conference on 13 October, another negotiating chapter, Enterprise and Industrial Policy, was provisionally closed. Prime Minister Edi Rama's government hopes to complete all chapters by the end of 2027, which would allow Albania to become an EU member in 2030.

The road to negotiations

Albania declared its wish to join what was then the European Economic Community soon after the communist regime fell. The first multiparty elections took place in the spring of 1991, and in 1992 the Democratic Party of Sali Berisha, then in power, declared European integration its main foreign policy priority. The economy was so weak at the time that only humanitarian aid from neighbouring countries prevented famine. Italy's armed forces ran the humanitarian Operation Pelican from 1991 to 1993, and in 1997 the collapse of financial pyramid schemes led to unrest, the looting of weapons depots and the breakdown of state administration.

In 2003 the EU confirmed that the Western Balkan states, Albania among them, are potential members. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement was signed in 2006 and entered into force in 2009, the same year Albania submitted its membership application. Visa-free travel to the Schengen area was granted in December 2010, and candidate status followed in 2014 with demands to fight corruption and reform the judiciary. During the reforms, hundreds of judges and prosecutors were removed from office.

The decision to open talks was taken in March 2020, and the first intergovernmental conference was held on 19 July 2022. By December 2025 Albania had opened all six clusters of the 33 negotiating chapters. Three chapters were provisionally closed in July this year.

Uncertainty and internal divisions

Euractiv and Reuters say 2030 is an achievable target, but Brussels stresses that progress depends on judicial reform and the fight against organised crime, so membership is not guaranteed.

Support for EU membership in Albania stands at 80–90%, yet the north, where the Democratic Party dominates, and the south, which backs the Socialist Party, view it differently. The north hopes the EU will restrain the Rama government, which has been in power for 13 years. The Financial Times and Politico Europe have reported that opposition supporters in the north feel excluded from state resources and posts.